Melinda Likes Vegas
by Nan119
Summary: Lots of stuff is happening with the Team and Melinda gets a phone call. A vacationing Melinda May and a team falling apart. I needed to fix it. My first AOS fic.
1. Chapter 1

Melinda likes Vegas. She liked to get lost in the hustle and bustle, the crowds, the anonymity. No one knew she was an Agent of Shield. No one knew she was a walking weapon. No one was afraid of her. That the town was awake for 24 hours each day and never slept was a plus in her book. She liked playing poker at 4am. It relaxes her. Plus she has that poker face down. Well, for most people. Phil sometimes could see thru her. Andrew used to be able to. She pulled the covers off the bed and clamored out, walking barefoot to the bathroom. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was 2:00pm.

Her thoughts continued on, thinking of Phil and the team. The old team. But that was gone. Now there was a new team. Fitz, Bobbi, Hunter, Mac, Skye and Phil. Her thoughts moved to Jemma. When she had gotten the call she was going to fly back and help - but Phil told her not to. Said there wasn't anything she could do. Wasn't anything anyone could do. Stepping into the shower, she let herself get caught in the blissful warmth of the shower. Standing under the shower her thoughts drifted back to the team. Her team. But was it anymore. Hers? She wasn't even sure she would be welcomed back. She had left happy , ready for and desperately needing a vacation. That had been 3 months ago. She had gone on a cruise with Andrew. It was fun. She had wanted to try again with Andrew. Thought she might still love him. The week long cruise did confirm she loved him. She always would. They had shared so much history, so much of their younger lives. But as he had stood there inviting her to come back to his house, to move in, she realized that she was no longer in love with Andrew. Perhaps had never been. They argued for a few minutes with Andrew telling her to give them a chance and give them time. But Melinda knew her heart was with her team. And with Phil. She guessed a vacation where one has time to think so much will bring on epiphanies like that. Not that she'd tell Phil. But she also would not live a lie with Andrew. so they had parted ways, still the friends they would always be.

As Melinda stepped out of the shower, she heard her phone ringing. She had left it on the nightstand and just ignored it. It stopped. After a few seconds it rang again. Went to voicemail again. As Melinda stepped into the main room the phone rang again. She stepped around the bed and grabbed it, opened it and practically shouted, "what?"

She heard an intake of breath and then Skye's voice. No, Daisy's voice. Damn, that would take getting used to.

"Hey May. How are you?" Daisy's voice was quiet and subdued which was not at all how Daisy normally was.

"What's wrong Skye?"

"Ummm...nothing, why would you think something's wrong? I just called to say hi." Skye's voice sounded broken.

"Skye? Come on spill it." Melinda was in no mood for games. Unless it involved winning at seven card draw.

"May, when are you coming back?" Was that a whine Melinda detected in Skye's voice.

"Back? I don't know Skye. I haven't really thought about it. Is there something going on?" Melinda was getting worried now.

"You've been gone a long time May." More whining. Now Melinda was getting really worried.

"I've missed you. And I am sorry. You know, about knocking you out. I really didn't know what was going on and I..."

"Skye. I mean Daisy. Hey, we are past that. It's over. I told you everything was okay. " Melinda interrupted.

"But I mean if your mad at me or something, please don't stay away cause of that. I'm really sorry May." Daisy pleaded. "Or if you think we don't care or want you here. We do. May you're family. I really miss you. Everyone does."

"Tell me what is going on Skye. Now! That's an order!"

I was quiet. Melinda heard her sigh. Then it all came out. Phil and his hand, that nothing worked. Bobbie antsy about being stuck inside and over doing her therapy, Hunter's obsession with getting revenge against Ward, Ward still out there on the lose, Fitz obsessed with the Monolith and Jemma not eating or sleeping and almost getting killed, the new group that is after inhumans , the crazy inhuman that she and Lincoln fought, Lincoln running away from her and her fear for him, Jemma being missed and gosh Skye missed her so much, and she missed the old team and she missed May and she missed training with her, and just knowing that she had her back. And how this whole inhuman thing is her fault and Jemma missing is her fault and she has to keep chasing inhumans. Skye was talking non stop and Melinda could hear her voice hitch and that she was crying. Her words started not making sense.

"Skye! Hey, hey! Daisy! Come on calm down." Melinda had crossed from worried to terrified hearing Skye breaking down. "Hey come on, take deep breathe. Remember your training Skye." Melinda wondered if she was losing control of her powers cause she started hearing shouting and commotion over the phone line.

"Skye! Daisy! Stop!" Melinda.

"Daisy you need to stop". Melinda heard Phil's voice. "Damnit Skye."

She heard a thump in her ear and then Phil again talking to Skye. "Skye, come on, focus. You need to stop."

Melinda willed someone to pick up the phone. She was helpless. Her team was falling apart. Skye was falling apart and she could do nothing.

"Hey who is on here.?" Phil finally spoke into the phone.

"Phil? Is Skye okay?" All was quiet for a few heartbeats. Then she heard him respond.

"Melinda. Yes she is fine. She has everything under control. Well mostly. She is still crying." Melinda heard Skye sob something to Phil. She waited.

"Hey Melinda. Skye told me to tell you to come home. She said she needs you. She said she loves you and to please forgive her." Melinda's breathe stopped. "Umm ... hey me too Melinda. I need you too. And I love you. Come home. Please."

Melinda found her voice. "Phil. "

"I know you are trying to work things out with Andrew and we have no right to ask, but we...

"I love you too Phil. Tell Skye I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and started packing. Melinda likes Vegas but she likes home even more. If she left within the hour she could get home by dinnertime. Perhaps she could talk Phil into making dinner while they had that long overdue talk. After of course she calmed down her kids.


	2. Chapter 2

Melinda May put on her best "you better fix this now or die" face. The short man behind the counter did not even flinch.

"I'm sorry we have nothing else leaving in the next few hours. The coach flight to Chicago is it. Now either purchase the ticket or step aside. I do have other customers you know."

Melinda took a deep breath. "Fine. How much?"

"Three hundred nineteen dollars and ninety nine cents."

"What! For a coach ticket 600 miles away. Plus you cannot even hook me up with a connecting flight once I get there?" Melinda was annoyed. Beyond annoyed. She needed to hit something. Where the hell was a quinjet when you needed one. She hated flying on airlines. Yeah, she was super stuck up about it. She wanted her bus back. She reached in and handed him her cash. He smiled at her and gave her five dollars and one cent back. He then printed the boarding pass out and handed it to her. She grabbed it and briskly walked away. Her flight would be leaving in 40 minutes.

She walked toward the gate. She glanced down at the ticket as she waited in line to be searched. She groaned. The seat number was 3A. Which meant she was in the front of the plane which she hated but also she had a window seat. She hated window seats. Plus, the plane was full so she would have to sit next to someone. It sucked. She sighed and wondered if asking Phil to send a quinjet would be too much. She took off her shoes and jewelry and set them on the scan table and walked thru. She had left her gun behind since she was technically Heidi Martin and did not have a gun license.

Finally she was sitting on the plane and so far no one had claimed the two seats next to her. Maybe her luck was improving. She opened her phone and checked for messages. Four were from her mother and five from Andrew. She started reading them. She had gotten to her mother's second one when she felt a presence. She looked up. A woman had stopped at her aisle and was putting something in the overhead carrier. But it was not her who Melinda was looking at but rather at a young girl around eight years old, standing almost in front of her and looking at her intently.

"Hi. Are you a spy?" the young girl asked her with huge brown eyes and an arched eyebrow.

"Arianna? What did I tell you about talking to strangers? " her mother admonished her.

Arianna smiled and said, "She's not a stranger, she is our plane date. And mommy I think she is a spy."

Melinda gaped at both of them, her mouth opening then closing as she found herself at a loss for words.

The mother looked at her daughter firmly and said, "Arianna, not everyone who dresses in black and wears sunglasses is a spy. I don't think I should have let you watch 'Men in Black' at the hotel last night." She looked to Melinda. "Sorry but my daughter has a huge imagination." She did not wait for Melinda to reply but rather sat down in the aisle sit and told her daughter to sit in the middle seat. After making sure she was properly buckled in she opened the book she was carrying and started reading.

The girl smiled and leaned over toward Melinda. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone you're a spy. Are you looking for aliens on the plane?"

Melinda had regained her senses and glanced at the child. "I don't like children, " she whispered so only the child heard her. She took off her aviators, frowned at the girl and gave her a look that always froze Skye in her tracks. She slowly placed the aviators back on, turned away and looked out the window.

"Undercover huh?"

Melinda sighed. This was going to be a long 2-1/2 hours. She needed to hit something.


	3. Chapter 3

Standby. She had finally gotten to O'hare in Chicago, and tried to get a connecting flight to Washington D.C. But no. Of course that would have meant her luck was changing and that was not happening any time soon. So she was on Standby. Waiting. Melinda hated commercial flying. But even more she hated waiting. Melinda was not a patient woman.

Much to Arianna's dismay, Melinda had managed to ignore the little girl on the flight from Vegas most of the time. There was that one talk though. Melinda sat back in her seat in the waiting area and sighed and as she remembered the conversation.

The stewardess had brought drinks and Melinda had gotten a gin and tonic. While she was drinking her 'not in the least bit strong enough' drink, Arianna had turned to her and asked "Do you have any kids?"

Melinda had scoffed at first, ready to answer with a no. Then she surprised herself by blurting out, "yeah I have kids. They are old but yeah they are mine."

Arianna grinned. "I knew it. How many?"

"Too many." Again with the blurting out. And actual talking. Skye and the others must have her worried for her to be actually talking to a child. A child who looked like Jemma and had the spunk of Skye. " Jemma, Leo, and Sk...Daisy."

Arianna's eyes lit up. "Wow. I wish I had a brother or sister."

May had looked at the little girl and smiled remembering the science twins and hacker she had grown to love as her own. Then she remembered Jemma was missing and Leo was running around almost getting killed and Skye was falling apart.

Melinda shook herself from her reverie, and looked around the room. Her training kicked in and she started evaluating the other waiting passengers. Something, anything to take her mind off her kids.

She was deep in concentration and jumped when the little voice came from behind her. "Hey Miss spy lady." She turned to see Arianna staring at her with her big brown eyes and a big grin. She couldn't help herself she actually smiled.

"Are ya waiting to get a kinectting plane too, spy lady?"

"Arianna what did I tell you about talking...oh, hello. You were on our plane." Arianna's mother gave her a brief smile before taking her daughters' hand. "We need to go. Our flight is leaving in 30 minutes."

They walked away but before they turned the corner Arianna turned around and waved at Melinda. Yep, she looked an awful lot like Jemma. Melinda waved back. She got up and walked over to a snack machine. As she fumbled for change in her pocket she spied the packs of red licorice. She sighed and leaned against the machine trying to stay focused. She will not cry. Melinda May does not cry in public places. In fact she doesn't cry at all. Well except that time Skye got shot. Red licorice. It was one thing Skye always asked for when they did a grocery run. Not Skye she corrected herself, she wants us to call her Daisy. She wants us to know she has found her identity. But now her Daisy was falling apart. And Melinda should have been there. Melinda slammed her hand into the side of the machine. She did it again. She had needed to hit something for awhile now. The few tears that escaped, she quickly brushed away.


	4. Chapter 4

Melinda sat back down in the waiting area. She looked down at her hands. Two cuts stood out on her right one. She flexed it and sighed. She needed to get home. A man and woman got up quickly next to her, and moved to the other side of the room. Great. Her inability to control her emotions has been noticed. She was supposed to be better at this. Hadn't she taught Daisy to focus and to stay in control. She willed herself to stay calm. She closed her eyes and did her breathing exercises. Thinking. All this waiting had made her think too much. Her muscles were tense and she was slowly getting a headache. She reached for her phone.

"Hey Phil." He had picked up on the first ring.

"Melinda?"

"How are you? How is Sk...Daisy? The others?

"I'm okay. Skye is in her room. Bobbi managed to talk her into laying down a little while ago. Leo went out again. Where are you?"

"O'Hare. Waiting. I got put on Standby. Apparently September 30 is huge traveling day." She rolled her eyes for emphasis.

"Hmm...sarcasm. Picked that up from Skye, did you? Did you roll your eyes like she does too?"

"Daisy, Phil. She wants us to call her Daisy. It's like you're not even trying. Plus I DID teach her everything I know."

"Mmmmmmmm... I'm thinking she taught you a few things too."

"Shut up Phil. Look I called to let you know I may not make it back till tomorrow. Damn airlines. So let Daisy know okay."

"Do you want me to send a quinjet."

"Phil. Don't be an ass."

"Come on. Tell me you haven't wished for one. You hate flying unless you are piloting the plane. You hate waiting. Your probably even thinking that me coming to get you with Lola is a good option about now. Come on admit it. Big bad Agent May cannot handle real life. You hate crowds. You hate people in general. You get cranky when something is pissing you off that you cannot fix. And you have the patience of a gnat."

Melinda rolled her eyes again. " Phil that is the dumbest saying you have ever come up with."

"Hey, my grandma used it all the time. Seriously Mel if I could I would send someone for you. You know I can't leave the base now. I could send Skye - you did teach her how to fly a quinjet."

"Daisy. Phil it's Daisy. You are going to make her angry not remembering."

"Actually Mel I am making her happy. I have to put a dollar in her jar every time I call her Skye."

Melinda laughed. "And Phil. I taught Skye how to land a quinjet in case of emergency, not to fly one and honestly...What? " Melinda stopped her sentence cause she heard him laughing. Loudly.

"You said Skye too."

She paused. "Screw you Phil."

"Anytime. I miss the good old days. You know the kids think we are doing it anyway. Might as well make them happy that mom and dad are getting it on."

Melinda groaned. "I sure hope no one is else heard that?"

Phil laughed. "Skye calls it eye sex. Says we are the best she's ever seen."

"Phil!" Melinda sighed and pictured the younger agent in her mind. "Yeah she definitely would say that." Melinda smiled fondly remembering how on more than one occasion Skye referred to her and Phil as 'mom and dad'.

"So feel better?"

Melinda smiled. The goofball had made her forget just how miserable she was. "Thanks Phil."

"Anytime. Oh and fair warning when you get back. Skye now thinks you think she is weak because of her breakdown on the phone, and is worried about it. Along with everything else she is worried about. She doesn't want to let you down, you know."

Melinda sighed. "Okay Phil. Look I think that..." she trailed off as she heard her name over the loudspeaker. "Hey Phil, I need to go, they called me to the counter."

"Okay Mel. Take care. See you soon."

She put her phone in her pocket and walked over to the counter. An open seat on the next flight to Dulles Airport. She wanted to jump up and down. But Melinda May did not jump up and down. Instead she got the pass and walked to the correct gate. Anyone watching her would have seen the bounce in her step as she did so. She was finally only a few hours away from being able to fix her family.


	5. Chapter 5

Melinda stared him down. Hunter gave in and handed her the keys. Coulson had called him to his office telling him he had an important mission. He was to drive to Dulles airport and pick up a special package. Turned out that meant Melinda May. He had been demoted apparently to a bloody chauffer and now not even that, as Agent May got in the driver's side and turned on the ignition. He hopped into the passenger seat and looked at May.

"Shut up Hunter. You know I still don't like you, right?"

"Bloody hell." Hunter stared out the window as May gunned the engine and took off out of the parking lot.

Melinda drove the SUV in silence for the first 20 minutes. Her preferred language. She glanced quickly at Hunter. Oh hell, what harm could it do.

"How's Bobbi?"

Hunter jumped. May was talking to him. Shit. What did she say. Oh yeah Bobs. How is she. "Um ... she's good. I mean getting there. You know. Pissed about not being in the field. But good. We're good." Hunter hoped May would understand what he meant. He turned to look at her.

May nodded. "Good. She needs that. Needs to be at a good place. After what that bastard did. She needs to be safe."

"Yeah that's what I said. She's helping Daisy. You know with lab stuff. Medical. That new guy they brought in, Joey. He was terrified. He's better now. Daisy talked to him."

May paused. "How's Daisy. And Hunter, the truth please."

"She's okay. Trying to help you know. Good days, some not so much. But I know she misses you."

Melinda raised an eyebrow. "How."

She drinks that awful smelling tea you bought. Like she enjoys it. And she's always asking someone to spar with her. Says she misses training with you. Needs to stay in shape."

Well damn. She didn't know what to say to that.

He continued. " She makes me. Promises not to use her powers. Just sparring. Takes me down regular like. Bobbie cheers for her."

May felt herself smiling. Her Skye made her proud.

"Plus she's started looking cold and telling us all to do our jobs and staring us down. Seriously she has that 'death could kill' stare of yours almost perfected." Hunter finished and looked down at his hands. " But I know she is trying to find him too. Ward. She spends her free time hacking away on that computer. Looking for a clue to find him. She worries about Fitz. I think she blames herself for what happened to Simmons."

Melinda sighed. She should have come back sooner. Before Hunter had picked her up she had read her messages too. The ones from Andrew said that Phil had called him. Asked him to come help with the inhumans. Much to her dismay he had accepted a temporary consult position. Between that news and hearing about Bobbi and Skye... Daisy, and shit that was really gonna be hard to remember when she saw her, she was stressing inside. That urge to hit something was coming back. She should have never left.

The drive should have been only a little over an hour. Their base was in Virginia nestled into a small unassuming town close enough to DC yet far enough away. But traffic was heavy. She heard a ding and looked down. Now she needed gas. Great. She was about to ream out Hunter when the car was rammed into from behind. Melinda barely kept control as Hunter swore. She looked in the rear view mirror. A car was flying up from behind them again. Hunter reached into the glove compartment and pulled out two guns. Melinda floored the accelerator.


	6. Chapter 6

Melinda swore in Chinese. She glanced at Hunter who was looking backward trying not to fly around in the seat as Melinda was reaching 80 miles an hour. On his side of the seat. Hunter winced. The car that had slammed into them was behind them and gaining. He said as much to Melinda who let out another round of combined Chinese and English profanities. Melinda May hated car chases. She hated being the chaser and even more hated being the one being chased. There were too many variables. Too many split second decisions. Too many innocents around.

Melinda pulled the car from the shoulder to behind a car in the left lane and then to the middle lane and finally to the right lane looking for an off ramp. Getting away from the crowded roadway was their best option. The car in pursuit followed them. Melinda yanked the care to the right going up the ramp. She weaved past two cars waiting at the stop sign and turned left barely missing being squashed by a delivery van coming from her left.

"Still right on us May."

"Thank you Captain obvious. I pretty sure the lights blinding me in the rearview gave it away."

Hunter grinned. No one better to have his back then Melinda May. Somehow her string of profanities and sarcasm masked the serious of their situation. He flew across the seat as she made a hard left into a field. Yes, he thought, May just drove off a perfectly good road into a field.

He practically flew on top of her from the movement of the car as she zigzagged across the field speeding up. The car chasing them fell behind. Melinda pushed him away at the same time she grabbed one of the guns from his hand.

"So we bail out, I let the car continue, and we double back to the road. Meet you there. Then we will see what shakes out. On three."

Hunter nodded as she slowed down the car, they grabbed their respective handles and opened them and jumped out. Hunter felt his training kick in as he rolled with the fall, jumped back on his feet, kept low and made for the woods. He stopped and caught his breathe, controlling his breathing and stayed silent. The other car had passed and he heard a huge boom. Figuring their SUV had met a tree head on, the other car would be back around after they figured it out. He moved. He tore up toward the road keeping the trees as cover, trying not to trip. As he came up to the road he took cover and listened. No vehicles and no voices. He was about to begin searching for May when she spoke into his ear.

"I saw them get out, there are seven and they will be here shortly. We need to go. Their backup will arrive soon." Hunter swallowed down a yelp, cause cripes he never heard her come up behind him, and damn how did she do that. He nodded. She pointed across the street. Then she took off running. He followed, knowing that she intended to put as much distance between themselves and the occupants of the car. He swore under his breathe, cause bloody hell, all he was supposed to do was pick up a package.


	7. Chapter 7

Melinda ducked into the bar on the corner of the little town looking for a pay phone. Hunter followed, checking out the patrons as they walked to the back. Both had broken their phones not taking the chance that someone had hacked into them and that they were being traced. Melinda yanked the phone off the wall while Hunter leaned into the wall next to it. She dialed a number and waited.

"Hello." The voice was hesitant.

"Daisy, it's me. We have a situation."

Daisy grabbed the phone tighter. "What's going on?" She whispered.

"We just got chased out of DC. Had to abandon the SUV. We made it to a little town a few miles off the interstate. Is everything OK there?

"Um yeah everything's good. Who was chasing you?"

"Have no idea. Look we are going to stay here a bit, and then head out to grab a car and come back to the base. We want to make sure no one follows us. You doing Ok Daisy? I want to talk to you soon as we get back."

"Yes, Agent May I'm good. Everyone's good."

Melinda paused. Daisy seemed really off. She had started calling her Melinda when they talked in private, not even May, but never Agent May. She shook it off, deciding Daisy was still shaken from before. " Alright then, tell Coulson we will be back in few hours. Take care."

"10-4." Melinda heard the click of the phone. She slowly put the phone receiver down and frowned. Hunter looked at her picking up on her nervousness.

"What?"

"She said 10-4." Melinda looked very worried. "She called me Agent May and she said 10-4. Something is wrong. She was warning me."

"How you know that. Come on maybe she's just having a bloody awful day. You know, like we are."

"Skye...I mean Daisy had been calling me Melinda for a few weeks after the Afterlife fiasco. Up to before I left with Andrew. She doesn't call me Agent May. She always says copy that too, never 10-4. I taught her to use stuff like that if she was in trouble. To make it obvious to me something was off."

"Bloody hell. That means Bobbi could be in trouble." Hunter went to pick up the phone.

"No. Hunter they'll know we know. So far we have the advantage."

"Really May? Cause we have no car, no phones, we are hiding in this dive, and our base may be compromised. How the hell is that an advantage."

"Cause Daisy gave us one. They don't know we know and they expect us to walk in there in a few hours unarmed."

"So what's the plan."

"For starters we need a car. And help. For that I need a cell phone."

"May I have about 5 bucks on me."

She rolled her eyes. She already had a plan formulating as she moved away from the phone and started walking to the front door. Of course it was that moment that 3 large biker types stepped in front of her.

"Going somewhere?" Melinda looked them over. Trying to figure out if they were a part of the larger threat or just small coincidental inconvenient jerks. Coming to a decision she smiled.

"Move. Now." She concluded they were the latter.

The same man spoke up again. "No one here is gonna help you." He swung his head around as two more men got up and headed to them and the rest just ignored them.

"Now just give us your cash, and anything else valuable and you might get to walk out of here."

Melinda looked him up and down. Then she laughed. A full blown out right laugh. Scared the shit out of Hunter. He glanced at her and then at the men.

She said very calmly. "And I might just let you walk. But then again you are pissing me off cause I don't have time for this shit, so maybe not."

The man laughed and reached forward to touch her jacket. "I think I want that too, for my girlfriend."

Melinda smiled again and shrugged off her leather jacket. He held out his hand, but she tossed it to the side. His eyes flashed dangerously. Melinda was wearing a "Blondie' tank top underneath her jacket. Hunter glanced at her and grinned.

"Now which one of you is first?" Not waiting for an answer, she punched the talking jerk in his throat, then did a spin kick to his face, which took him down. Within seconds she had laid out three of them and Hunter had taken care of the other two. Melinda grabbed her jacket, reached down to the guys pocket for keys. Hunter grabbed a phone from the nearest victim.

Melinda spoke to the talking jerk. "Two hours. You give us two hours."

"Now why would I do that?"

"Cause then I will do you a favor and not tell anyone that a tiny little Asian woman kicked you ass." Melinda looked over to the bar holding up the keys.

The bartender wisely spoke up. "The back. His is the Harley with the red trim." Melinda nodded at him and reached in her pocket to grab a couple twenties which she laid on the table closest to her, and then walked out of the bar. Hunter grinned at the remaining upright patrons and followed.


	8. Chapter 8

Melinda grabbed the phone from Hunter's hand and punched in a number. She reached the Harley and motioned for Hunter to wait.

"This better be important." The voice on the other end sounded peeved.

"Nat. I need help. My team needs help. Is Clint with you?"

"Yeah. What's up?" Natasha calmed immediately. Melinda asking meant the interruption was necessary.

"You guys need to meet me at the Stiller Aviation Field. I'll explain more then. It's urgent, we only have a few hours. Coulson and my team have been compromised. We need weapons too."

That Melinda did not ask for but expected the help meant something was horribly wrong. There was no hesitation when Natasha responded back. " Copy that Mel. Maria is here, she is coming too."

"Good. See you there." Melinda ended the conversation, threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it. She swung onto the bike, motioned for Hunter to get on behind her and started the engine. A couple minutes later they were back on the highway heading north.

Thirty minutes later she stopped the bike at the gate of Stiller Aviation. Hunter walked the bike to an alley a few away from the gate and pushed the bike into it behind a couple trash cans. Melinda and Hunter scaled the fence and walked to the south airstrip. A quinjet was already waiting there. They walked up the ramp. Natasha and Clint were waiting.

"Long time Melinda." Natasha smiled at the older woman. Melinda smiled back and went to hug her. Hunter watched, surprised and a bit awestruck looking back and forth to the Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Clint reached over and pulled Melinda into a bear hug. "Good to see you Mel. It's been like forever."

Melinda grinned at him and nodded at them both. "Wish it was under different circumstances."

Natasha saw her worried expression and took her hand. "Mel what the hell is happening?"

"The Playground. Someone is holding my team captive, and expecting Hunter and me to walk into a trap. Oh, yeah, Clint and Nat; this is Lance Hunter. He's an agent now." Hunter was still gawking at them.

Clint reached over and shook his hand. Nat nodded at him. Clint asked, "How is Bobbi?

Hunter looked surprised. "Um... she's good, still um... healing, but getting um..better. How do you know Bobbi?"

Nat answered. "We did a few missions together. Back in the day."

Maria Hill popped out from cockpit and joined them. "Melinda you want to get us up to speed."

Melinda sighed and crossed her arms. "Hey Maria." Hunter nodded at Maria.

Melinda spoke up. " One of agents on the base let me know so whoever is holding them didn't catch on. We have about two hours before they do."

"What I don't understand is why Daisy didn't just take everyone out May, you know use her powers on them." Hunter looked worried. "Unless they have powered people keeping her in check? Which would suck and make our job even tougher."

Nat and Clint shared a look. Maria spoke for them all. "Powered people? Melinda?"

"Skye. Well Daisy now. She wants us to call her Daisy. She is gifted. What we are now calling inhumans." Clint raised his eyebrows at her. Nat frowned and Maria looked worried.

Nat was the one who spoke. "So how many of them are there at the Playground?"

"Just Sk...Daisy right now. She's on our side. She's an agent. But if she was taken captive and so was the rest of the team, like Hunter I wonder how. Daisy is very much in control of her power, so she, Bobbie, Mac, Coulson, and the others would have fought back."

"Unless they were knocked out." Maria suggested.

Melinda winced remembering just that had occurred when Gonzalez's people had taken the base. "Well whatever the hell happened, we need to get there and fix it."

The others agreed. Nat looked back to Melinda, "So what's your plan?"


	9. Chapter 9

Melinda's plan was a relatively simple one. Use Hunter and herself as bait to find out what they were up against while Nat, Clint, and Maria backed them and found a way in without detection. They all went over the plan several times. They needed everything to be exact. One piece being off could spell disaster.

Hunter poured more beer on his shirt and drank a few more swallows. Melinda gave him a dirty look.

"What? I need to smell and look drunk."

"Well, if you keep drinking you will be drunk." Clint offered.

Melinda rolled her eyes. "That would take about 20 of those for him to even get close."

Natasha raised her eyebrows at both.

"Tolerance. I built up a big tolerance. Come on guys. It's helpful."

Melinda looked at Nat and almost grinned. He was right of course. At least for this rescue mission, Hunter's alcohol tolerance would be used well. Melinda frowned thinking that this was indeed a rescue mission. She wondered just exactly who would be in need of rescuing. She hoped no one had been killed. She thought of her team, yes, they were still her team: Sk...no Daisy, Phil. Bobbi, Mac, and Fitz. She wondered if Andrew was there. She wondered if there were others such as more inhumans at the Playground. She knew Daisy and Mac might have some being held there for observation. Phil had said that Leo was not there but he could have gotten back. Her thoughts kept rambling as she watched Clint, Nat and Maria gearing up. She did not want to enter the base completely unarmed but knew she and Hunter had to keep up the charade that they thought the base was safe.

All they needed to do was give the others ten minutes. Ten long minutes and Melinda and Hunter would have the intel they needed, and the element of surprise. Melinda just hoped when it went down that the rest of the team would be out of danger and would understand and go with it. Daisy would know it was some sort of a set up, or at least she would hope Melinda understood her message and it was a set up. She would have to connect with her, let her know she knew. However they were preventing Daisy from using her powers, Melinda knew she had to free her if they wanted to raise the odds in their favor.

They finished getting prepped. Melinda spoke up. "Let's go over it one more time. Hunter and I will walk in as though everything is perfectly normal. Since we are not sure exactly what communication was monitored, Hunter and I will banter back and forth and I will act annoyed as hell..."

"Which shouldn't be too hard." Nat smiled at her.

Melinda ignored her. "I will act annoyed and also ask about everyone, appearing eager to see the team..."

"Which you are." Hunter interrupted only to get a death glare from Melinda.

"While you three will make your way in the tunnel connected to Vault C. Then you guys will head upstairs and wait for our signal. Which should be exactly ten minutes after we go in."

Natasha spoke up. "Right. If we don't here the signal assume the worst, go to plan B and come in and rescue all your asses anyway."

Clint nodded. "Melinda if we hear explosions or gunfire we are not waiting. We'll find a way in."

"The biggest worry is we have no idea who this is. Is it Ward and Hydra?" Hunter visibly flinched. Maria continued. "Or is it someone we have yet to know about? Are there powered people involved? It's gonna be a guessing game till we get inside."

"Well if your powered agent is free she can help. She is on our side, right Mel? Is there a chance she led them there?"

"None. Skye...Daisy is an agent. Part of our team."

They looked at Hunter. He responded. "Yeah Daisy wouldn't be a part of anything that could hurt Shield. Or hurt her family."

Nat looked at Melinda confused. "Her family?"

Melinda answered. "We are her family. Only one she's ever had. She is safe." She will help us as soon as I can get to her and free her."

Nat nodded. She trusted Melinda. If Melinda said the powered girl was on their side, she believed her. Clint still looked doubtful. Maria chimed in. "Daisy's a Shield Agent. May is her SO. We trust Melinda. we can trust Daisy."

The quinjet landed about 10 miles from the Playground. Hunter secured an SUV. They parked the SUV a mile away and walked the rest of the way. Well, actually the jogged thought Hunter. Melinda's stress was rolling off her in waves. That only made Hunter more nervous. He knew it was cause they were going in blind. No agent wanted to enter a hostage situation completely blind. Those scenarios never ended well. The tension was palpable and everyone felt it. Soon Hunter and May were ready to break off from the group.

Hunter spoke up and whispered for all to hear. "Don't die out there." He and Melinda turned and headed to the Playground's entrance. The others just stared as they watched the pair go.


	10. Chapter 10

Melinda took one glance back at Nat, Maria and Clint. Natasha gave her a thumbs up. Hunter looked over at Melinda as they got to the entrance. He slid his lanyard up to ID him. They both heard the door unlock. Melinda showed her lanyard as well. As Hunter opened the door he started talking.

"I don't care what anyone says, the blokes over here don't know what good football is. And I'm not talking that...that.. stupid thing with that oblong thing they call a ball." Hunter slurred his words more and more as he continued blabbering on about American football and it's idiocy according to him. Melinda rolled her eyes. For a few beats she stayed silent.

As they ventured further in to the corridor leading to the common area, Melinda finally spoke up. "You do know, I still don't like you, right? I sure as hell don't care about your stupid soccer team, or your..."

"Football May. Bloody hell. " Hunter staggered purposefully as he saw movement at the entrance way into the common area. He sped up a bit and positioned himself in front of May, leaving Melinda a few feet behind him, effectively blocking anyone's view as she quickly punched in a code on the Vault C door frame.

Hunter continued speaking. "You Americans and your wanker sport called 'football'. For cripes sake May, only two people on the damn team are allowed to use their bloody feet. Football, my ass."

Both he and Melinda had gotten to the entrance way. Hunter kept his mouth moving but Melinda tuned him out, focusing instead on what she heard or rather did not hear from the rest of the base. No white noise of agents talking. No buzzing of machines down the lab area. No footsteps, no shuffling, no discernible movement. It was actually frightening how quiet everything was, well everything except Hunter who kept up a steady drone of saying nothing, while loudly stepping through the doorway.

Melinda knew what was coming and expected it. To her right she saw two figures and to her left three more. Five. Five just to control them. She willed herself to not tense and to allow the hit she knew was coming. She allowed it and allowed herself to go down and she stayed down. Looking up she saw a gun pointed in her face. The man who had clipped her was on her other side grinning.

"See not so tough these Agents of Shield." he laughed. Melinda had seen Hunter do the same as he allowed himself to be taken down with minimal resistance including some swipes at thin air to reinforce his inebriated state to their enemy.

"Bloody hell, mate. Who the hell are you?" Hunter stumbled trying to regain his footing as one of the others poked a gun into his rib cage. He chanced a look to May and raised his eyebrows. She gave him a piercing stare. Yep she got it. They were not very good. She and Hunter could have taken the five out in seconds. But they needed to find the others and the best plan was letting their captors believe they had the upper hand. She recognized no one. That and that they were not very good made her worry even more. What the hell had happened for people like this to take the base?

The man holding a gun on her spoke up. "We've been expecting you."

Melinda almost giggled. How freaking cliche. She clenched her jaw and faced the man. "What do you want? Who are you? What the hell are you doing here? And what have you done with the agents?"

He grinned at her. Melinda decided that he needed that grin to be wiped off his face and soon. She hoped she got to do it. "Well little lady, we are in charge. What we want we already have. We have this base, a powered alien or two, and the Director of Shield. Anything else will be an added bonus. Like you two. And the other alien. When he gets here. The alien girl invited him. He should be here soon."

Melinda winced. The jerk must have meant Lincoln. They must have had Skye call him. But how did they know about him. And how did they know about Sk...Daisy. And this base. Nothing made sense. They couldn't be Hydra which was good cause that meant Ward wasn't here. They weren't good enough to be Hydra. Who the hell were these guys? She could see Hunter was thinking the same thing. He glanced over and raised his eyebrows at her as they were being escorted down the hall into the garage area.

They turned the corner and entered the garage and May heard a gasp. She looked and saw Daisy seated on the ground next to Leo, Mac and Bobbi. Across from them she saw Koenig and Coulson. All were tied up and Skye had on the protectors/inhibitors Simmons had made back when Skye had first undergone terragenesis. Melinda caught her eye asking the question. Daisy shrugged her shoulders and gave Melinda a pointed look as if to say later. Hunter stayed in his role but gave Bobbi a once over, seeing she was alright. He waited for Melinda's cue.

Melinda took it all in. The woman standing over Coulson speaking to him. Koenig and him tied together. Leo, Daisy, Bobbi and Mac tied to the wall. Besides the woman and five agents who brought them, there were eight more in the garage. Of course there were probably more throughout the base. Whoever they were they also appeared to have full control of Shields' tech and communications as well.

Melinda looked around again. She was missing something. But what? She knew she had about three minutes before the others would make it to the floor and start bashing heads. Why were Bobbi and Mac and Skye so still? What was she missing? Melinda knew she would be fine. She could get free in seconds. Hunter too. Also Bobbi could as well and she could free Skye and Mac and Fitz. Why were none of them trying? Her two guards pushed her over to the others and motioned for her and Hunter to sit down. Shit. Oh shit. Now she saw what she did not see before. Saw what the others could see. A young girl. Maybe 12 or 13. Standing. Bound and gagged. In the containment pod. The see thru containment pod. The one that vaporized inhumans. The one that Daisy was dead set against but Mac and the others decided was a necessary evil when dealing with inhumans who may be evil. And seated outside was a guard with his hand on the switch. The switch that took one second to press.

She looked at Phil. He swallowed hard and tried for a grin which was more a grimace. He knew she would have seen through it all. Had a plan. Now that plan was not going to work. There was no way she'd allow another inhuman girl to die. She had to be inhuman Melinda knew. The vapor only worked on inhumans.

"See Phil. We may not be as trained as your shield people but we are apparently much smarter."

"Smarter? Roz, You can't even see we are on the same side." Phil retorted back.

"You people are not on the same side. You are willing to let these freaks, these aliens walk around free. You cannot even see that they are all a threat to humanity. Even your pet over there, the one you call Skye, needs to be contained."

Melinda bristled. That was her Daisy that bitch was talking about. She looked at Daisy who was turning red from anger.

"No it's people like you that is who my mother and the others were afraid of. She had reason to fear people finding out about us. You are the threat, we aren't." Daisy said, shaking from anger. "And using a little girl. You people are the monsters. Not us. We are far more human then you will ever be. You and people like you are the problem. We just want to be left alone."

"Left alone?" Rosalind replied. "Left alone when all you are capable of is being a monster. Of destruction. That's what you were created for. You and those like you are an abomination." The girl in the pod shrieked. She tried to use her powers to get out. Daisy's face fell.

Melinda needed to hit the woman. Hit something. No one talked about Daisy like that. Hunter kicked at the ground. He looked at her. Shit. They had about one minute. The initial ten minutes plus the additional five Melinda knew that Nat would give her were clicking away. Clint and Nat and Maria would not wait for the signal. She knew they wouldn't. All hell was about to break lose.


	11. Chapter 11

Melinda's eyes moved over to gaze at her team. Daisy's dark eyes, anxiety filled, met hers. Melinda knew if she could get to Daisy and free her, they would have a chance. She brought her bound hands forward and glanced down and looked back to Daisy. She then looked poignantly at Daisy's arms. Daisy's eyes grew big and she paled. The guard watching her was mere inches from her with a gun trained on her head. Melinda needed Daisy to get free. Now. She continued to look at Daisy.

Daisy was scared. She knew if Melinda needed her to use her power, something was about to go down. Her clue on the phone was obviously received by Melinda which meant Melinda had brought backup. That the guards had marched Melinda and Hunter in without a struggle meant it was part of the plan. Daisy took a few breathes in and out and tried to stay calm. Melinda knew the inhibitors allowed minimal use of Daisy's powers. Very minimal, but probably enough that she could create a disturbance. She knew that was what Melinda wanted. Away from them. Away from the pod. She knew cause she was taught by the best, cause she was taught by Melinda May.

Daisy focused on a point above Rosalind Price. Above her was some shelving holding boxes with parts of some sort. She glanced quickly at Melinda and nodded. Then she turned back and felt the stirring in her body. She held it in, feeling it, contained it and then she allowed the surge to move forward. Two boxes teetered and then fell forward towards Rosalind and Coulson. At the same time Daisy saw both Hunter and May free themselves. Bobbi was moving as well. Koenig had seen the whole thing unfolding and pushed his body into Coulson's moving him out of the way of the falling car parts. Daisy stepped out and used a round house kick to take out her guard. The whole thing happened in mere seconds.

May reached Daisy and grabbed the inhibitors off her arms. Daisy raised the man controlling the pod vaporizer off the ground two feet and held him there. The look of surprise and fear was evident on his face and even more so, after Leo grabbed the control out of his hand. After freeing Daisy. May had continued taking out guards, while gunfire and shouting could be heard outside the room. The man Rosalind called Banks raised his gun to take out Daisy. An arrow knocked the gun from his hand and another pinned his arm. Coulson looked up to see his old friend Clint smiling from the doorway. Coulson grabbed Rosalind, who was holding her bleeding head, and looked around. Everything was under control. He saw May. She had everything under control. It was definitely good to have her back. Hunter grabbed Rosalind and roughly pushed her to stay with the beaten guards.

Hunter and Bobbi rounded up all the guards from the garage and were tying them up. Koenig was supervising. By this time, Clint, Nat and Maria had entered with their prisoners as well, another twelve that had been spread throughout the base.

"All the computers are yours again and I stopped all feeds into theirs." Nat said as she moved to stand next to Coulson. "And you look good for a dead guy. Your funeral was one of the best I'd ever been to."

Coulson grinned at her. "Hey Nat. Good to see you too." She reached over to hug him. As she broke away she saw his attention on something else. She followed his gaze, and saw Melinda currently being engulfed in a hug by a younger agent. She assumed this was the Daisy that Melinda had spoken of. She smiled.

Melinda had just finished taking out the last guard. As luck would have it, the last guard was the smart mouth who had clipped her back in the corridor. She grinned. Maybe her luck was changing. She felt someone watching her and turned around. Daisy's eyes locked onto hers. Her expression was one of relief and yet also seemed fearful. Melinda closed the space between them till she was standing in front of Daisy.

"You did good Daisy. I knew you would."

Daisy hesitated for a second, then flung herself at Melinda. Melinda found herself in a death grip hug as Daisy started shaking. Melinda pulled her arms up around Daisy. Daisy's head fell onto Melinda's shoulder and Melinda could feel her tears soaking thru onto her shirt. Her shaking gradually ceased but Daisy kept clinging to her as a lifeline. Melinda looked up to see Phil watching them. Nat was watching as well till she heard Bobbi cry out her name and Melinda watched as they embraced as well.

Daisy finally pulled away and wiped at her eyes. She was an agent for crying out loud and here she was openly weeping in her SO's arms. She looked up at Melinda a little sheepishly with a grin, wiping her eyes more. Melinda smiled back at her. The gunfire and fighting had rattled Daisy. Using her powers with the inhibitors on took a lot out of her. She was exhausted, hungry and anxious. She thought perhaps she just needed to rest. The room felt like it was closing in a bit. She felt disconnected. She looked up and saw Melinda continue to smile at her. She was talking to her. She missed what she was saying.

"Yeah so it was like the trip from hell." Daisy tried to focus in on what Melinda was saying.

Leo cleared his throat coming up to stand next to them. Next to him was the young girl who had been in the pod. She stepped forward and hugged Daisy. Leo spoke up.

"This is Laney. Laney, Agent Melinda May."

Laney pulled away from Daisy and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you. Oh and thanks. For saving my life."

Melinda took her hand. "I think it was a team effort." She looked at Daisy and Leo. Melinda reached out to touch Leo's shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

"Yeah another team win." Leo smiled gratefully at Melinda.

Maria, Nat and Clint made their way over to them.

"Hey Daisy, good to see you again." Maria spoke first.

"Hi Agent Hill. Thanks for...you know." Daisy waved her arm around the room.

"So you're Melinda's protege' ? Daisy. I'm Natasha and he's Clint."

Daisy stared. She was looking into the face of the Black Widow. The freaking Black Widow. And Hawkeye. Stay calm Daisy, she thought. They are just people. But holy shit. Natasha Rominoff and Clint Barton. Standing in front of her. Avengers. Real Avengers. The ground started shaking. Shit. The Avengers needed to help them. It was all her fault. They all almost died. Again. She caused everything. She hurt everyone. She hurt Melinda. And Laney. Jemma was her fault too. Trip died. She made Trip die. She looked at Melinda. Melinda gave her a strange look.

"Daisy? Hey are you...what's...? Daisy!" Melinda looked worried.

'I'm okay. It's good. I am just tired and ...it's good Melinda. I've got this." The ground continued to shake. Daisy looked overwhelmed.

Melinda stepped forward and took her arms. "Daisy. Look at me. Just like Tai Chi. Breathe. One ...two...you're okay. It's over. You are okay."

Daisy heard Coulson's voice mixing in with Melinda's. She couldn't focus on anything. It was too loud. Too many people. She shook loose of Melinda's arms holding hers. Melinda was talking again. She couldn't understand what she was saying.

Daisy's thoughts were choking her. Her mother. Her mother's hands on her face and throat. Trying to kill her. Daisy closed her eyes. She saw her mother's face. No that was a bad idea. She opened her eyes. She saw Melinda and the Black Widow and Hawkeye and AC was there too. She looked around at everyone. Her heart felt as though it was going to explode. The ground was shaking harder. She heard Mac speaking and Melinda reaching back to take her arms. Melinda trying to pull her closer. Her mother, her mother was trying to kill her. Daisy felt hands on her face, and she pushed away. She looked around wildly. Laney was screaming her name. Why was everyone screaming at her. She looked down and saw Bobbi kneeling next to her. Bobbi was talking to her. She couldn't make out the words. She kept hearing her mother's voice. 'You weren't my gift, this is'. Her mother. She had to stop everything. Her fault. People were yelling. Her father, Cal was yelling at her. No that was Leo. All of a sudden she felt a poke in her leg. The last thing she remembered was falling into Melinda's arms. She smiled. Melinda would protect her.


	12. Chapter 12

_This chapter is all emotion. It was not headed that way at first but it had to be done. I absolutely love writing the Daisy/Skye and May relationship. I hope to have another chapter up this weekend. I am currently writing 2 stories for AOS and try to update each one once a week minimum. More team and Philinda interactions coming up._

Melinda sat in the chair next to her bed where she and Natasha had put Skye. Bobbi was also in the room currently monitoring Daisy's vital signs. Bobbi had known a panic attack when she saw one and when Daisy completely lost any sense of reality and she had felt the room start to shake she had plunged the needle into Daisy's leg to keep her from hurting herself or others. This one was far worse than the previous one two nights ago. In fact, she had noticed Daisy's emotional state degenerating at an alarming rate. She was glad Melinda was back. Bobbi looked at Melinda, and smiled. Melinda was holding Daisy's hand while she dozed on the chair. Bobbie assumed she, like the rest of them, was exhausted. Hunter had briefed her on their little adventure together after he had picked her up at he airport. Bobbi was just glad that Daisy's training had kicked in and she had been able to warn Melinda. She tried not to think how bad the whole thing could have turned out otherwise.

Daisy stirred on the bed and Melinda was immediately awake. Melinda scanned the area and finding no danger looked back to Daisy. Bobbi walked over to her.

"She's waking from the sedative. It'll take a few minutes." Bobbi watched as Daisy started moving her limbs and blinking her eyes open. After a couple minutes, Daisy's eyes focused and locked onto Melinda's. Melinda smiled and reached over to brush a few stray hairs out of Daisy's eyes. Suddenly Daisy shot up to a sitting position, yanking her hand out of Melinda's.

Bobbi reacted first. "Hey, hey Daisy. You're okay. Come on. Lie down. I need to check you out. "

Daisy shook her head and mumbled something and tried to push off the bed. Melinda gently grabbed her shoulders and held her in place. "Skye, please. Just stay still. Calm down. Everything's okay. You're okay."

Daisy quieted at Melinda's voice but her eyes still darted around the room as she looked for danger. Assured there was none, she visibly relaxed and looked back to her SO.

Bobbi spoke again. "Good Daisy. I just need to check a few things. Then I can unhook these, and you can get more comfortable." Bobbi reached for the bio meter hook up connected to Daisy and started jotting down numbers in the book she held.

"Could I have some water." Daisy spoke very quietly. Melinda looked at Bobbi who nodded. Melinda went to get up and get some for Daisy, when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and looked down into very intense dark brown eyes. "Please don't go Melinda." Daisy's hand tightened and Melinda stopped. She looked at Bobbi who was finishing up.

"Here, Daisy let me take that off, and I'll grab you a bottle of water. Okay?" Daisy nodded. Bobbi reached down to pulled off the bio meter. "You're numbers are good. I think you just need some more rest. I'll be right back with the water."

After Bobbi left the room, Daisy scooted back on the bed letting go of Melinda's wrist. She pulled her legs up and rested her arms and head on her knees. Melinda sat down on the bed next to her. Melinda waited. She waited for Daisy to get hold of her emotions. She sat just waiting, just being there. Bobbi came back in the room carrying a bottle of water and a couple packs of crackers. She set the crackers on the night stand, handed the bottle to Daisy and handed a bottle of some tablets to Melinda who placed them in her pocket.

Daisy I have some pain killers, in case the sedative leaves you with a headache. Just take them if you want to. May has them. Just two at a time and they might make you groggy. But you should probably eat a few crackers first.

"Okay." Daisy took a small sip of water. Bobbi touched Melinda's shoulder and squeezed in assurance, as she turned to leave.

"I check on you in a few hours." She said to Daisy.

Daisy took a few more sips of water. She set down the water bottle and hugged her knees. After a few more moments of silence, Daisy finally spoke to Melinda.

"I'm sorry."

"Sky...Daisy. You have nothing to be sorry for. You did good. I'm proud of you. The girl's okay, you're okay. Everyone is okay. You had a panic attack. PTSD. Bobbi told me this is not the first."

Daisy refused to look up. She shrugged her shoulders. "I can't do this anymore", she whispered.

Melinda barely made out the words. Her stomach dropped. "What do you mean Daisy?" Melinda tried to keep the anxiety she was feeling out of her voice. She also was trying very hard to call this younger woman in front of her by the name she had chosen. No wonder Phil messed it up, Melinda thought. Looking at the hacker turned agent in front of her, she was having a hard time remembering to do so herself. Melinda reached her hand out to cover Daisy's. At the touch Daisy pulled hers away. She seemed to melt further into herself.

Daisy knew she was pushing Melinda away. She knew it but didn't know how to stop. She wanted to stay strong and to pretend everything was okay and back to normal. But Melinda had just witnessed her having a major breakdown. Showing how weak and pathetic she had become. She had no idea how to express what she was feeling without turning into a sobbing mess. So she tried to stay in control like Melinda had taught her. She tried to suck it up and stay strong.

Daisy took a deep breathe. She glanced at Melinda. "You don't have to stay here. I'm okay. You can go talk to the others. Visit Phil."

"You said you wanted me to stay." Melinda answered quietly watching Daisy's face. "I'm not going anywhere Daisy."

"But you did!. You left! You left us and...you left and we...I didn't know where you were. I...thought...when we talked and you said you needed to go, I understood. But damnit May you left me! For months."

"Daisy I..."

"No! No I'm not done." Daisy got up and stood in front of Melinda. "You didn't call except to check in with Coulson. When I called you the first weeks you were fine and we talked, then all my calls went to voicemail. Something happened. And you shut me out. All of us. It's like you disappeared off the face of the earth. What the hell did I do Melinda that you shut me out? I thought you were...we were...I don't know...I thought, I thought you ...cared. I thought everything was back to normal. Well back to our normal." Daisy stopped and wiped at her eyes.

Melinda gulped and tried to answer. But Daisy stopped her again.

"So all I kept thinking was you hated me. For knocking you out and for taking my mmmo...her side, Jaiying. For shutting you out. So was that it May? Was it payback? Cause I never took you to be the petty type like that. I never thought you'd just stop caring. I thought we were ...getting closer. After you found us with my mother dead and me hurt you helped me. You looked after me. You helped me get thru the Cal and the Tahiti thing. Then you went on vacation and we talked before you left. You hugged me. Daisy paused and moved away from Melinda. "So what the hell did I do!"

Melinda felt the ground shake. Daisy was full on crying and shouting and the floor was shaking.

"Daisy. You need to stop. You need to control..."

"Fuck the control May!" She couldn't stop yelling at Melinda. Even though part of her wanted to sink into Melinda's arms and hold on for dear life, she couldn't stop. Instead the anger came out at the woman that Daisy respected and loved. The only woman who had stepped up and been there for her, protected her, and taught her. The woman who was more of a mother to her than anyone else ever was, including her birth mother. "I know. I fucking know, okay. I know I need to stop. I can't. I can't be like you and just shut it off. I'm not a fucking machine. I needed you!" She backed into the wall and glared at Melinda. " Get out and leave me alone." Daisy sank to the ground. She pulled her hands over her head and curled into a fetal position.

Bobbi rushed in the door followed closely by Fitz and Coulson. Melinda just stood there shell-shocked. She knew Daisy had issues with her leaving, she knew that Daisy was not coping with anything well, and she knew that she harbored some resentment toward her, but Melinda had no idea it was this raw and this intense. Right now she needed to get out of there, away from the prying eyes of Bobbi and Coulson, and away from the young woman she had come to think of as a daughter. Melinda turned and fled from the room.


	13. Chapter 13

_A smaller necessary chapter to bridge the next couple and show a bit more of Daisy's mindset. Laney is my new original character. She will play a small role in this. She is based a bit on the Secret Warrior character YoYo Rodriguez also known as SlingShot. I should update again this coming weekend. Yes some Philinda interaction coming soon. And much more May/Daisy stuff. Also other characters will have roles as well but this is primarily Melinda's view of events. Yeah - she is my favorite character._

 _I do ship Philinda. Other ships may enter into the story at some point. Obviously Hunter and Bobbi are together._

 _Thanks to everyone who has favored and/or followed this story. Thanks for the reviews as well - they inspire me to write more and update sooner._

Melinda did not want to talk to anyone. She did not want to see anyone. Seeing Skye so angry and hearing her lashing out was heartbreaking. She had known she should have come back sooner. It was just so difficult. She had needed time to process everything. Phil had kept her in the loop and had given her the impression things may not have been perfect but that everyone was coping. She would have to have a few words with him later. She found herself in the Playgrounds' hanger. She looked at the new plane. It was impressive. She slipped on board and made her way to the cockpit. The place where she could always think. The place she could be alone. Melinda opened the door to the cockpit and proceeded to slip into the pilot chair. She took a deep breathe and then sighed. She wiped away a few stray tears hoping no one had seen on her face as she had ran by.

"Sorry I can go."

Melinda jumped and swirled around to see a young girl curled on the floor squeezed into the back and side of the other seat. The inhuman girl. The girl began getting up.

"Sometimes Daisy would come here to sit. I followed her once and she invited me to stay. It's peaceful. Daisy said it reminded her of when you were here."

Melinda gasped. Of course it did. The cockpit on the plane is the first place that she and Skye had connected. Skye used to come and just sit quietly when they would be flying. At first Melinda had thought she would be annoying and talk too much. But Skye was actually quiet. She would gaze out the window in awe and smile at the occasional sunsets or sunrises she would see. Sometimes Skye brought her laptop and worked just keeping Melinda company. Other times she would curl up in the seat and sleep. Melinda guessed she just did not want to be alone. Melinda knew Skye had been alone far too much in her life. After a number of times that Skye joined her, during one particularly long night Melinda had put on a tape of music. She was surprised when Skye had started singing the words. But what surprised her even more was when she also joined in and sang along. Skye was momentarily surprised, but then a big grin had taken over her face. So it became a tradition of sorts. During all long flights, Skye would make her way there, and she and Melinda would belt out songs. Sometimes Melinda played her oldies and once in a while she allowed Skye to play her newer music. Melinda had found herself looking forward to those times.

Drawing back from her reverie, Melinda watched the girl who stood in front of her nervously. The girl moved to leave, but Melinda reached out to stop her.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Agent Melinda May."

"Laney. Well it's actually Yolanda. Yolanda Rodrigues. Everyone calls me Laney."

"You can stay if you want. How old are you anyway."

"Fifteen."

"How long have..."

"I had powers? Yeah um maybe 2 months now. I was in this restaurant in San Diego working. I tried the fish. Big mistake I guess. Anyway, after it happened I found myself in this restaurant all alone with the police on loudspeakers outside. So guess what power I have?"

Melinda gazed at the girl. She shook her head slightly. "I have no idea".

Laney grinned. "Speed. I can run really, really fast. So I did. I got out of there. Found myself up near the docks. I had run like 5 miles in mere seconds. It was easy to get by the cops and everyone. That's where Daisy found me. Talked to me and hey she was nice so I went with her. Been here ever since. Talked to the doc and they let me stay on base in one of the rooms. Daisy said I was the first who did not freak out so much. But super speed. Who wouldn't want super speed? Daisy thinks it's cause the power I have is easier to stop and start. And because I'm young. She thinks it's cause I'm more adaptable. I think maybe cause my power is not like killer like hers. The potential to be destructive. I mean have you seen what Daisy can do. It is so badass."

Melinda smiled. "Yeah I've seen what Daisy can do."

"You know she thinks you can walk on water right. She thinks you hung the moon. All she does is talk about Melinda said this, or Melinda would do this, or Melinda taught me to do ...I mean it's obvious to anyone how much she thinks of you."

Melinda blinked. "No, no she doesn't. She hates me."

Laney shook her head. "No she's pissed at you. I mean she thinks you left her. She thinks you gave up on her. She's terrified you left her." Laney looked at Melinda intently. 'So did you? Give up on her?"

"Of course not. I just thought she...I don't know...she had found her mother...and I needed to ...How do you know so much about what Skye thinks anyway?"

Laney took a deep breathe. "You mean Daisy, not Skye. Because she is like me. And because she talks to me. I may only be 15 but we are friends. She's helped me a lot. She stood up for me so they let me stay here. She's working with me with my powers and with training."

"So you seem to know everything." Melinda gave Laney a small smile. "Who are those people who invaded the base?"

"Oh Phil invited them."

"He did what!'

"Rosalind Price and the ATCU. He was working with them. I guess they pulled one over on him. They got him to trust them and worked with Daisy and him, and then decided to double cross us. Or maybe that was the plan all along. Anyway, good thing you showed up. They were waiting for Lincoln and were gonna take me, Daisy, Joey and Lincoln with them. Some containment area for powered people. They already have others there including Alicia. I'm sure Phil is working to get her and the rest free."

Melinda decided it was time to talk to Phil and get some answers. She would go back and talk to Skye...Daisy later. More than anything she wanted to know why Phil was hiding stuff from her. More than anything she wanted to know why he didn't tell her about Daisy.


	14. Chapter 14

Melinda made her way to Coulson's office. She was anxious to see him and get answers. She was also nervous as hell and if she were honest with herself she was also scared. She had said those 3 words. The ones she promised not to. The ones she held inside and mulled over and over about what they really meant to her. It had been a moment of weakness. Of vulnerability. Of need. On the phone she needed to reassure him. To let him know she would be there for him. He had asked after all. But to let those words of endearment out. To let him hear her say it. Oh she knew he loved her too. They were best friends, comrades, co-workers, partners. All of those. But were they more than that? Was there something more there on both sides? Was it palpable to others. Phil had said Skye thought so. Was she really that transparent around him that others picked up on what neither of them could admit. What neither of them wanted to admit. Cause that line crossed would change everything. She knew that. Perhaps that was the most feared thing. That once it was said, out there, the inevitable dynamic would change and that scared the hell out of Melinda May. Cause this...this whatever the hell they had, this was comfortable. This was safe. This was normal. Melinda stood in front of the office. She shook off those personal thoughts and without bothering to knock she flew the door open and walked in. Phil looked up from his desk.

"By all means, come on in."

Melinda walked over till she stood in front of his desk. She crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"Who the hell is Rosalind Price and why was she holding my team captive?"

Phil blinked, taking in her appearance. She looked like hell. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, her hair unkempt and she looked exhausted. She probably hadn't sleep for a few days. She looked beautiful. He smiled at her.

"Welcome home Melinda. Really glad you're back."

"Stop avoiding the question Director. Who is she and what is the ATCU, and what the hell do they want."

"Oh that's easy. They want powered people. They want to show the President all the money he has thrown at them isn't being wasted and they want to show the public they are in control. Rosalind is in charge.'

"Rosalind? Really Phil?"

"You know I think I had this same conversation with Skye."

"Daisy. It's Daisy now Phil. And stop trying to deflect. How did she get here and get access to the base?, what are you going to do about them now?, and speaking of Daisy, don't think we won't get back to talking about why you did not inform me that Daisy was falling apart. But first things first. Explain."

Phil explained who Rosalind Price was and told her about the ATCU. He explained how they came across them, how they ended up working together and how they took advantage of them working together.

"So you're telling me that you trusted them? That you gave them access to the Playground? How did they get Daisy's arm inhibitors?

Coulson rubbed his neck and sighed. "No Melinda, we did not trust them. They used us. They had intel and they used Mack to get inside. With everything going on we missed it. They followed Mack and Skye. It was after an op to find a just turned inhuman. Lash beat us to him again and Skye... um...Daisy and Mack accompanied them to their base for mutual teamwork. Daisy wanted to see their facility since they were wanting to keep inhumans there and somehow Mack was slipped a transeaver and they got here. You saw their agents - after the initial break in we were overpowered. Joey is still in his special quarters cause he can't control his power so he was of no use, and they used Laney against Skye. When they broke in first thing they did was knock out Laney and put her in the pod. Somehow they knew about the inhibitors, and Skye put them on cause of the threat to Laney. Obviously you saw none of us tried to escape for the same reason."

"Phil. The whole thing sounds sloppy."

"Yeah. It was. Never should have happened. Everyone is dead tired. Skye is working through stuff. Fitz is preoccupied trying to get Simmons back. Mack is trying to protect Sk...Daisy from herself and everyone else. Bobbi is still rehabbing. Hunter is obsessed with finding Ward before Bobbi is well enough to try. Laney is a kid. Daisy is trying to help and watch out for her. Our guard was down. My guard was down. I was hoping to work with them. We could have used the extra manpower. The inhuman, Lash, is dangerous, and we need to stop him. I guess I thought our goals meshed."

"Phil they want to take Daisy."

"Yeah. That's why I have a hanger full of prisoners. Melinda we have to move. We are compromised. Shield doesn't have the resources right now to house all the prisoners and they are working for the government. Legit. Under the President's authority. We are the bad guys according to them. According to them, they have a right to take all inhumans and imprison them. They keep saying for their good and the publics' good." Phil paused to let that sink in.

"We have to pack everything and move. So I have to hold them here till we can do that."

"Where are we going Phil?"

"That's currently classified. I have a place. From Fury's toolbox. I'll give you the coordinates when everything is packed and you are flying the new bus."

"How soon will that be Phil?"

"By tomorrow morning. We will have everything, tech and weapons, and supplies loaded on the quinjets with some tactical agents and the rest of us will all be on the Zepher. I already gave the order to pack up to everyone except you and Skye."

"So leave them here. The prisoners. What about the woman? Will she be of any use to keep her with us captive?"

"She's good Mel. She played me and she's damn good. I am still not sure what her end game is. She is pretty ruthless. Dangerous. Skye...um I mean Daisy warned me. I should have been more delegent."

"So you like her? This Rosalind."

Phil looked stunned. He stammered. "Liiiiike heeeerrrr? Um like her like her? Gee Mel, don't you think I'm better than that. Personal feelings have no place in this business."

Melinda raised both eyebrows at that.

"No I mean that kind of personal. Oh for Pete's sake Mel. I mean personal relationships cannot compromise missions. Or info. Or this base." He reached up to rub his head. " You know what I mean. And no I am not interested in Rosalind Price that way. We needed to work with her. She got the upper hand and it was the safest way keep Skye from their clutches."

"Safe Phil? Cause from what I saw Daisy was far from safe being near them." She frowned.

"Well they double-crossed me. Us. I really thought we could work together. I thought we both had the same goal."

"So now what? She is a liability to take her with us or to leave her here. We are running out of options."

Phil sighed. "I know. Best case. We leave her and we go on the offensive. Stake them out, get in front of what they are doing. We need to see their operation. We need someone on the inside."

"They saw Natasha, Clint and Maria, Phil. They would be compromised if one of them went in."

Phil turned on his comp. "Koenig, find Natasha. Tell her and Clint and Maria to come to my office."

Melinda asked. "Phil? What do you have in mind?"

"When they get here Mel. I'll explain. How's Skye?"

"Daisy is not good Phillip. But then you know that. Why the hell didn't I?" She glared at him.

"Mel." he started.

"Don't you Mel me, you idiot. What the hell Phil? She is falling to pieces. Why didn't you tell me before now?

"She made me promise not to."

"She made you...what? Why Phil? What would make her do that. Then she called me and damnit Phil she sounded so wounded and so small. Then lost control of her powers. She hasn't done that for awhile."

"Actually she has. For a few weeks now apparently. I swear Melinda, I didn't see how bad she was till she called you. Apparently she has been hiding it well. All of us have only been getting bits and pieces. She is fine for a few days and then everything just ...I don't know Mel. Having Laney to focus on seemed to help. Then Lash came along, and the ATCU and ...it just all went to hell very quickly."

He continued looking at the floor. "When you first left, I know everything was good. She was good, you guys were at a good place. I watched you hug her goodbye. You needed the time away Mel. You have been through hell too. You needed a chance to be happy. To be with Andrew. Visit you mom. And your dad. Go to Vegas and have fun. I know how much you like Vegas Melinda. Everything just piled up. On me. On Skye. On all of us. After Jemma was taken... people just ...I don't know...it got depressing. Then the inhuman outbreak. Lash. The ATCU. I thought about calling you any number of times. But Skye wanted to fix everything. She didn't want you to think she couldn't handle things. She wanted you to be proud of her. I wanted you to be happy. Even if it meant you weren't coming back. Even if that is what you chose." He stopped, took and deep breathe and looked up at her face.

"You should have called Phil."

"I know."

A knock on the door followed by Natasha, Clint and Maria making their way in the room halted any further conversation between the two.

Natasha and Maria moved to flank Melinda while Clint stood a few steps back. Clint looked from Phil to Melinda sensing the tension in both. "So Phillip. What's the plan?"


	15. Chapter 15

_Sorry for the longer wait. I was away for a few days chaperoning teens. At least this one is a bit longer and I should have another chapter up by the end of the week as well. As always, thanks for leaving a review, I love reading them, and thanks for all the favs and follows too. I know some have been wanting a conversation between May and Daisy. Well this is it. Still some more angst and drama between them to come. Both characters are not necessarily written in character, but that's cause I write this relationship how it should and May talks to Daisy a lot. She is the one who broke down Melinda's walls. My other story Growing Pains deals with that._

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"The plan is threefold. We need to move to a secure location. That's top priority. We need to find the ATCU real base of operations, who is running it, who they are and then shut them down. Threat assessment and intel. Finally, we need to destroy that containment pod and make sure no one uses that again to hurt inhumans or threaten any of us. So Nat, you work with Bobbi and Fitz on that. Maria you and May and Clint on threat asssessment and intel. I want all the people we are holding interrogated. May, see if you can get Skye...oh crap, I mean Daisy to help on intel. She has been trying to hack into their systems. "

"Phil, you go talk to Daisy and get her on it if she's up to it. She's not talking to me right now." Melinda said, her face holding much sadness.

Phil looked at her and nodded. "I'll stop by her bunk on my way to talk to the others. " I need Hunter and Mack on weapons and supplies inventory. I'll put Lincoln with preparing Joey and Laney for the move, and send him to help Daisy too. He should be arriving soon. Nat, Bobbi should be in the lab with Fitz."

They all headed out to engage in the plan. Melinda made her way to the garage with Maria and Clint. They decided to interrogate each ATCU agent individually. They untied three at a time and each one was taken to a separate room. Meanwhile Lincoln had arrived on base, and met with Coulson. He first went to debrief Joey about everything and then he met with Laney. Seeing that Laney was unharmed, both decided to check on Daisy. Fitz and Bobbi were dismantling the containment pod and destroying the vapor that could kill the inhumans. Everyone else on the base was packing equipment and supplies and getting rid of any evidence Shield was ever there.

Hours later after almost everything except personal belongings had been packed and loaded onto the planes, and all the enemy agents once again contained, most jobs complete; Melinda found herself in her bunk packing her clothing that was still there. She had grabbed a shower and changed into one of her shield uniforms. She picked up her duffle bag and tossed it onto her shoulder, making her way to the Zephyr One. She threw her stuff on a pile of growing personal belongings as she saw everyone else doing the same thing. Clint and Maria had made their way to the airfield where their Quinjet was and they were heading back to Stark Tower to grab personal items for themselves and for Nat. All three had opted to stay and help with shutting down the ATCU and with finding and stopping Lash. Maria had told everyone she could handle Tony and he would just have to get over it. Maria and Clint would wait for Melinda to send them the coordinates of the new facility when she got them from Coulson.

After putting her stuff on the pile, Melinda turned and her dark brown eyes met another pair of dark brown eyes. Melinda held her gaze, but Daisy tore hers away, looking down. Laney saw the interchange and sighed. From all she had learned, she knew that Daisy needed to talk to the women she basically had talked non stop about since Laney had stepped foot onto the Playground. Anyone could tell they had been close. That they cared a lot for each other. She wasn't sure of the details but she knew Daisy thought the older women had abandoned her.

Melinda watched as Daisy, Laney and Lincoln walked over a few feet from her to load their personal items and clothes onto the plane. Daisy refused to look at her, and once all her stuff was piled up with the rest, she turned to leave. Melinda took a few steps and reached out to the retreating girl, touched her shoulder. She spoke softly.

"Daisy, we need to talk."

Daisy spun around, and pulled away from Melinda. "No we don't. I don't want to ever talk to you again."

Melinda winced as though she had been struck. "Skye...um, Daisy. Please. "

"No. No you lost that chance when you decided to walk away. And when you decided to not return my calls. I'm done. Just leave me alone." Daisy's voice grew louder and people had turned to watch.

Melinda could feel her throat tighten and her chest squeeze. Tears threatened to fall. She did not trust herself to speak.

Laney gave everyone else who had turned to stare at the exchange dirty looks and so did Bobbi who had stepped out from the cockpit. Everyone took the hint and moved away from Melinda and Skye. Except Lincoln. He stood next to Daisy.

"Daisy. You need to talk to her." Lincoln spoke quietly looking at her. She glared back at him.

"You need to mind your own damn business." Daisy turned and almost ran of the plane. Melinda bolted after her. Laney went to follow but Lincoln stepped in front of her.

"Let them be. They have to talk."

"Looks to me like it is going to be less talking and more screaming. One of us should go and..."

Bobbi cut her off. "No Laney. Lincoln's right. We need to give them space." The three watched as Daisy made a beeline for the gym with Melinda only steps behind her.

When Melinda realized where Daisy was headed she slowed down. She peered back and saw the three staring after them but not pursuing them. Good. She knew that she and Daisy needed to clear the air, no matter how painful, and that it was best done with just the two of them. She reached for the door handle to the gym, but before she could open it, it slammed open and Hunter and Mack came flying out with the door slamming back shut.

Hunter saw May and his face twisted into unbelief. "She just threatened us. Said if we didn't leave she'd bloody well throw us out. She aimed her arms at us and started shaking the floor."

Mack raised his eyebrows at Melinda. "What the hell's going on? We need to get that stuff packed up and onto a quinjet."

Melinda sighed and spoke up. "Just stay away from here. Hunter, Bobbi could use your help and Mack go see what else Fitz needs to pack up. Daisy and I will pack up the gym equipment." She stared both of them down.

Mack spoke first." Roger that. Let's go Hunter." Melinda watched as the two headed away. She leaned against the door and tried to gather her thoughts. She then took a deep breathe and slowly opened the door. She went inside and closed the door behind her. She spied Daisy who was beating on the punching bag. Melinda walked across the room and stopped a few feet behind Daisy on the mat.

"You need to wrap your hands Daisy. You're going to hurt something."

Daisy ignored her. Melinda took a few steps closer till she could have reached out and touched Daisy. Daisy continued punching.

"Daisy, please. Please talk to me."

"You're not welcome here May." Daisy's tone was threatening. She continued punching the bag as hard as she could. Melinda swallowed hard. She reached over to touch Daisy's shoulder.

She should have expected it, but it still surprised her. Daisy had turned around upon Melinda's touch and punched her in the face, and then swept her legs out from under her. Melinda lay there staring up at her young student. Daisy had tears rolling down her face, and her eyes blazed with anger as she looked down at her SO. Daisy sank to the ground next to her as though her legs would not support her any longer. Melinda pulled herself to a sitting position.

"Did that help?" She rubbed her cheek. She accessed Daisy. Daisy was slumped over with her knees pulled up, and had her head bowed with her hands wrapped around her knees. Her shoulders were shaking.

Melinda inched a little closer to her and placed her hand on Daisy's back. She slowly rubbed her back and tried to think of what to say. Sorry platitude's did not feel enough. So she tried a different approach.

"Hunter told me you'd continued sparring, and you are very good. Good punch and the sweep was as good as mine."

Daisy brought her head up to look at Melinda incredulously.

"Well, you won't talk to me so I figured I'd teach. Your surprise element was done well, but as always once you had me on my back you should have gone in for the kill. I taught you to never back off. You had me."

"So you proud of me but wanted me to hurt you more and you would have been even more proud. Geez, and everyone thinks I have issues."

Melinda watched as Daisy started to become less tense. She continued rubbing her back. "I'm sorry."

Daisy shot her head back up to look at her superior officer. She still had a few tears on her cheeks. Melinda reached over with her free hand and brushed them away. She continued. "After everything happened with Afterlife and Ward , and with Andrew back in my life; I needed to see, I needed space."

"I needed you." Daisy barely whispered.

"I know that now Skye, I just wasn't sure I could be that person who you needed anymore." She paused. "When Shield fell, Coulson's life wasn't the only one that fell apart. Mine was in shambles. I didn't know who I was anymore, what I was. I wasn't sure I could do any of it anymore. I wanted a chance to see who I could be outside Shield. Shied has been my whole life, Skye. Since forever."

"You didn't call. Or answer mine."

"I didn't answer any calls for awhile Daisy. I just needed that separation. I'm sorry. I should have made sure you were okay. Phil didn't tell me when I checked in the last 2 months. He said you told him not to."

Daisy looked away. She took a deep breathe. "I didn't want you to know I was so weak." Daisy stared down at her hands.

Melinda's breathe hitched. "Oh Skye. You are one of the strongest women I know. Being scared or overwhelmed or needing help isn't a weakness. I'm sorry if I taught you that. It is simply not true."

"But you can work through everything Melinda. You didn't let any of this crap make you weak."

"Skye. I ran away."

Daisy turned back to Melinda with wide eyes.

"It's true Skye...I mean Daisy. I called it many things, I justified it. But what it was is simple. I ran away. From Shield. From Phil. From the team. From you. I needed to. Was it a weak thing to do?"

Daisy started shaking her head. Melinda reached over to her and cupped her chin with her hand. "Do you want to hear the whole truth Skye?" Melinda paused and removed her hand and clasped them together. She rubbed her hands together trying to find the right words.

"I was afraid. Of what this team was becoming to me. My emotions were starting to dictate my actions. I was less in control and less focused. When Andrew called and asked me to go away with him, it was a perfect chance to detach myself again. From all of you." Melinda's voice hitched and she stopped talking. She took a deep breathe and closed her eyes.

Daisy sat up more and pulled herself closer to Melinda till they were shoulder to shoulder. She reached her hand to grasp Melinda's. They sat that way in silence for a few moments, Daisy allowing Melinda to gain control.

"We went to Maui. It was nice. Beautiful. We swam in the ocean, went scuba diving, took in the scenery, slept late, long walks along the beach, great food, and a few shows. After a week, I realized I was hiding. Andrew was safe. Andrew, however, was also my past. I realized I couldn't go back. It wasn't the same. I love Andrew, but I am not in love with him. Not anymore. Too much pain, and history, and changes had occurred. We parted friends. He tried to get me to try again, but my heart was filled with other people."

Melinda paused and wove her fingers with Daisy's. She reached her other hand up and put her arm across Daisy, pulling her into her side. Daisy laid her head on Melinda's shoulder. Melinda continued talking.

"So I left Maui and went to visit my mother. Stayed for a few weeks while I tried to figure out what to do. Tried to talk myself out of my feelings. After my mother basically kicked me out, telling me to go home, I called Natasha. I spent a few weeks at Stark Tower."

At that revelation Daisy squealed. "Stark Tower? Who was there? Did you meet Thor? Was Captain America there!" Daisy pulled away and jumped up and down excitedly looking at Melinda. Melinda laughed at her child like wonder.

"No. Just Tony and Pepper and Maria. I stayed in Nat's suite and didn't go out much. Nat actually got worried and made me go with her to visit Clint on his farm." Melinda laughed. "They had me chopping wood and milking cows."

Daisy laughed. She grinned at Melinda. "So they are together right? The Black Widow and Hawkeye. Cause it's like so obvious. They do that same eye sex thing you and AC do. Almost all the time."

"We do not do that."

Daisy raised her eyebrows at her mentor. "Please." She rolled her eyes at her as well. "But they are together right?"

Melinda laughed. "Yeah, Daisy. Pretty much attached to each other's hips. While I was there, I got a call that my father was hit by a car and in the hospital. So Nat flew me right there to Sun Valley and I stayed till he recovered enough to be on his own."

Daisy's eyes got real big. "Oh, wow. Is he okay? I mean, wow, you were busy and I was just feeling sorry for myself, and that's ...wait. You have a father?"

"Yeah Daisy. I have a father." Melinda laughed at her student. She continued. "He'd love you. And you would love him. He takes no crap from me. Calls it like it is. So when I over stayed my welcome claiming he needed my help, he called my bluff and told me to go fix my life."

Daisy smiled trying to picture what Melinda's father would look like. "Sounds like a smart man."

Melinda smiled and nodded. "So of course I went to Vegas instead."

Daisy smirked and looked at Melinda. "Of course you did. Hope at least you won."

"I did. A couple grand. Then I lost it. Was going to try and win it back, but before I could, I got a call from my favorite inhuman."

Daisy frowned. Melinda pulled her back over to her side and put her arm around her again. Daisy shifted closer into her side. They stayed that way for a few beats until Melinda felt Daisy's body shake and then the sobs started. She reached her other arm across the younger women and held her. Daisy wrapped her arms tightly around her teacher, and sobbed into her shoulder. Melinda held her till she felt Daisy's breathe even out and felt her stop shaking. Daisy pulled away embarrassed but Melinda brought her face up with her hand and looked her in the eye. She gently stroked Daisy's face, wiping away the remaining tears. "Needing comfort and needed help is not a weakness. Reaching out to people and needing them is a strength Daisy. Running like I did is a weakness."

Daisy shook her head. "No you deserve to be happy Melinda. Trying to find that is not a bad thing.'

"Actually Daisy I was running from happiness. From the people I care most about. Afraid they would hurt me if I opened up, or worse, that I would hurt them. Afraid to take a chance. In the process, I did hurt you. For that I am so sorry."

Daisy snuggled into Melinda again allowing the older woman to hold her. This was so safe. So nice. She was starting to understand that Melinda also feared being rejected and abandoned. Being alone. But Melinda feared not being alone as well. Damn they were so much alike it hurt. She vaguely felt Melinda rocking her back and forth before she drifted off to sleep.

That's how Coulson found them about 20 minutes later. He had gone looking for Melinda, and had heard from practically everyone about what had happened. He walked quietly over to the two women smiling. Melinda was holding Skye, no holding Daisy and smiling. Melinda looked up as she heard his approach. She smiled at him as well.

He grinned at her. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up. "Wheels up in an hour, Mel. And we need to get this stuff," his arms swept across the room, "onto the quinjet."

She nodded. She pushed away from Daisy and stroked her face. "Hey. Come one Daisy. Need to wake up." Daisy's body shuddered as she slowly opened her eyes. She squinted up at Melinda.

"Huh." She shook her head and heard Phil shuffle and looked at him. She rubbed her eyes and stretched.

She pulled further away from Melinda which allowed Melinda to get up. She held out her hand to Daisy, who took it, and pulled her up too.

"So you guys okay again."

Melinda smiled at Daisy. "We're getting there."


	16. Chapter 16

_Sorry this is later than usual. I got caught up in Holiday decorating, Christmas parties, and family stuff. More Melinda/Daisy bonding. They are almost on their way to a new base. I hope to have another chapter in a week but no promises. This is a very busy time of year for me. My son plays basketball and games and practices are daily. Plus my volunteer commitments. I will do my best. Thank you again for the Favs/Follows and Reviews._

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Melinda and Skye started packing up the gym equipment. Phil left, and apparently had asked others to help them, cause soon Bobbi and Hunter and Laney appeared. Between the five, they managed to pack everything in a few minutes and they carted it off to a waiting quinjet. After, Hunter and Bobbi left to find Mack to do a quick check of all the rooms to make sure nothing important was left behind. Out of boredom, Natasha joined them. She had known Bobbi from a few missions they had been on together so they were quietly talking while Hunter and Mack led the way. Melinda and Daisy and Laney had gone to the Zephyr One and while Melinda was in the cockpit helping to get the plane ready, Laney and Daisy sat down.

"So everything okay with you and Agent May?"

"Mostly. I think we need to talk more but I'm done being a little brat." Daisy looked sheepishly at the teenager.

Laney shrugged. "Hey everyone's allowed to feel hurt. Although when I talked to her, it didn't seem like she intended to hurt you at all. She seemed extremely worried."

"Yeah. Hey, when did you talk to Melinda?"

Oh after I guess you told her to go away forever or something she had come onto the plane. I think to hide. She didn't know I'd be there in the cockpit and she didn't see me at first. I don't think she saw much with the tears in her eyes blinding her."

"Hold up. Melinda was crying?"

"Yeah Daisy. A lot. I startled her and we talked a little bit. She's pretty cool."

"She's the best." Daisy voiced without hesitation, feeling her heart clench over the idea that she had made Melinda cry.

Laney looked at her friend and shook her head. "If you felt that way, why'd you push her away Daisy?"

Daisy shrugged her shoulders. She thought for a moment before answering. "All my life people have left me. Abandoned me, betrayed my trust. Just walked out of my life never to be seen again. Or walked out emotionally. People I've known turned out to be not the person I knew. Does that make sense?"

"Sure. They only let you see pieces and when you saw the whole picture they disappointed you or turned into someone else. My dad did that. Then he just left, and that was that. But Agent May doesn't seem like someone who would do that Daisy. She seems genuinely fond of you."

"Yeah. I know. Just need to be reminded from time to time that not all people suck."

Laney laughed. "Maybe some people suck. But here, these people including you do not suck."

Daisy laughed. "Gee thanks. I think."

Melinda walked by the two on her way of the plane.

"Hey where you going." Skye asked her.

Melinda turned around. "Going to talk to Rosalind Price with Coulson. Want to come?"

Daisy nodded and both got up.

"Um Laney just Daisy okay? It's official business."

Laney shrugged. "Okay. I'm gonna find Lincoln and see what he's up to."

"Just remember wheels up in 30."

"Roger that." Laney saluted both women. Daisy smirked and Melinda just turned to move off the plane. They walked side by side to the hanger.

"So you're gonna have to tell me how you met Laney one of these days."

"I thought she did when she talked to you. She told me she was there when you ran to the plane after I threw you out of my room."

"She did a bit. But I'd like the full details. She's a good kid Daisy. But what exactly are we doing with a 15 year old on base?"

"She had no parents to speak of. Her grandmother died and she was shuffled around from relative to relative. She's pretty smart, not freaked by being an inhuman and she's my friend. She acts much older than 15."

"Ah, makes sense. Since you act younger than 24, you must meet somewhere in the middle." Melinda's eyes held a teasing glint to them.

Daisy hesitated. Then a small smile formed. "I missed this. I missed you."

"Melinda stopped and turned to Daisy. "Me too."

Daisy shuffled her feet and looked down against Melinda's stare. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"For screaming at you. For hurting you. Laney told me how you were when she saw you."

"Skye... Shit I mean Daisy." Melinda gathered her thoughts. "You had a right to be angry. To be scared. The way I handled my problems impacted you and I didn't see it. But I should have. For that I am so sorry. But I made you a promise way back when I first was training you. Do you remember? I promised I would never leave you Skye. I am still here. And even though I was physically absent, I was still with you. I will never abandon you Skye...I mean Daisy. Sorry that is going take some getting used to. I will never stop being your friend and being your family."

Daisy looked up at Melinda. "We are family aren't we? Otherwise I wouldn't care so much about what you thought about me." Daisy smiled. "And the name thing. It's okay if you sometimes call me Skye. I'm still her too."

"So I guess you expect another hug?" Melinda gave her an annoyed look.

"I can see right thru you, you know."

"Hmmmpt."

"Softie."

"I'm not."

"Teddy bear."

"Skye." Melinda gave her a warning glare.

"Warm and fuzzy. Soft. Sweet, a giant cuddly wuddly teddy bear." Daisy grinned and started laughing.

Melinda smiled at her enjoying the playfulness directed at her. She then did what normally Daisy initiated and that was to step directly into the younger woman's space and envelope her in a bear hug.

Daisy was surprised at Melinda but then recovered and hugged the woman back very tightly. They remained like that, with Daisy resting her head on Melinda's shoulder, until Phil walked up to them.

"Um guys. I'm all for the feels cuddles thing but we have an interrogation to do."

Daisy laughed as she and Melinda separated. Melinda blushed a bit.

"She's just a cuddly wuddly teddy bear AC. She can't help it."

Phil smiled. "I know." He turned to walk toward the room they held Rosalind Price in with Daisy following. Melinda stood there with her mouth open. She stomped her foot. "I am not cuddly wuddly damnit." Phil and Daisy just laughed at her and entered the room. Melinda slowly followed them putting her poker face back on.

The three agents stared at Rosalind Coulson. She tried to look unafraid, but she had seen the powered woman in front of her able to use her powers even with inhibitors on. And the other woman had taken out 3 of her best guards without blinking. She already knew what Coulson was capable of. So yeah, she started sweating a little beneath her unflappable exterior. It was Coulson who spoke up.

"Anything you want to tell us Rosalind before we leave? Now's your chance. You know we are going to find the facility and win. What is you mission? What are you doing collecting inhumans? At that statement Daisy shifted forward.

"Yeah I'd like to know that one. Where's Alisha? And any others you have? You have no right to imprison them."

"I have every right in the world. They are dangerous and need to be cured of this ...disease. It's a danger to all of us." Rosalind looked right at Daisy. "You need to be locked up. Before you hurt others. You are the problem, I most certainly am not. I have the government on my side. This disease..."

"It's not a disease lady. Stop saying that." Daisy stepped closer. Do I look sick to you. I'm fine. This...this...gift or whatever is part of me. Who I am. You have no right."

"Well when you kill someone you love get back to me."

Daisy's face fell. "I save people. I protect people. I help people. I'm...we're trying to help people like me, like that girl you threatened. How is locking us away a solution?"

"Locking you away assures us that you won't lose control or hurt innocents. Can you say no one was ever in your cross fire or that you never hurt someone?Your powers are catastrophic. You could kill hundreds of people."

Melinda stepped up getting in Rosalind's face. "And so could I. depending on what I did. So could most any one of us - we are trained that way. So are your agents, and you could do the same with a touch of a button."

"But you can't rip a continent apart or bring down a city by yourself. She can. She can and who knows what she will do, what will set her off. You cannot guarantee she will not hurt people."

"Yes, we can. I know Daisy would never intentionally hurt anyone. Neither would most of the inhumans. Those that would are the ones we all should be working together to bring in. To contain."

"Yeah. Like Lash." Daisy interjected.

Melinda nodded. She would have to catch up on who Lash was from Daisy. All she knew was it was a rouge inhuman brutally killing other inhumans randomly.

Phil spoke up. "Look Rosalind. We are going to get you your base and then free the inhumans you have there. All that info has been found by one of our agents. Soon as we leave here, we plan to do just that. This place here, we will make sure it takes a really long time for someone to find all of you or for you to potentially break out. This place is comprised now and does us no good." As he was talking Bobbi entered the room with Hunter following behind her. Bobbi walked over to Phil.

"All set Director. The rooms have a few days supplies and Nat made sure no one could override any of the locks or passwords."

"Good. Start taking them down there. There are 19 so divide them 6 or 7 per room."

"Copy that."

Hunter spoke up. "What about the dragon lady? She go too?"

"Not yet. Just get them for now."

Hunter and Bobbi left to get a few agents to take the captives out of the hanger.

Phil turned his attention back to Rosalind. "What did you plan to do with the inhumans in your custody? Kill them? Turn them over to the government? Who else knows about them?"

Rosalind Price laughed. "You think I am going to tell you anything? Really Phil. You should know me better than that by now."

"Hey, you don't get it lady. We are in control. Not you. You were ready to kill a girl. She's 15. Did you know that?" Daisy moved closer to stand directly in front of Rosalind. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're a monster."

"All we are doing is containing the situation. Making sure no one gets hurt."

"Yeah except her. You threatened to kill her! You are sick!" Daisy was in her face now. Rosalind was visibly worried.

"No she's sick. She needs to be cured. All of them need to be cured. Even you. This is something we can contain. Our facility has the ability to contain people so the cure we are ..." Rosalind stopped talking.

Daisy smirked at her. "So a cure? Daisy turned to Phil and Melinda. "She's being duped by someone. There is no 'cure'. "

Daisy walked away beckoning Melinda and Phil to follow her. Once they were out of earshot of Rosalind, Daisy spoke. "There's no cure. Lincoln told me it is irreversible. Once we fully change in whatever way we do there is no return back. My mmmo...um, Jiaying confirmed that. Whatever they are doing is not a cure. Someone might be using them. The ATCU I mean. She believes it, what she is saying. It's not possible to take it away. It's part of who we are. What if someone is collecting powered people? To start an army or something? Using the ATCU and Roz to get to the inhumans."

"Just the thought of someone collecting inhumans is bad enough, but as an army is just unimaginable. Way beyond what even Garrett was trying to do with super soldiers." Phil was very concerned now.

"She has more information we could use Phil. I could interrogate her." Melinda's ire was up from the way the woman had upset Daisy.

Phil thought for a moment then shook his head. "I think we should let her stew a bit longer. Take her with us. See what she gives up after we raid her base. See if someone else is using her as Daisy suspects or if she is just that good and still playing the game."

Melinda nodded. Daisy spoke up. "Put her in the pod Phil. An inhuman cannot even escape from those."

"Is Joey okay to move without it?"

"Yeah he is. Just let him stay with Lincoln away from the rest. Since Lincoln decided to join us, he and Joey have bonded and Lincoln is able to monitor him."

"Okay. Melinda you and Daisy take her there. We are wheels up in 10. I'll relay that message to everyone. We need to clear out.

"Roger that." Daisy smiled and both she and Melinda turned back to the woman while Phil moved to leave the room.

Rosalind warily eyed the pair returning to her. She took a deep breathe and tried to remain calm.

Daisy stood in front of her. 'Let's go. You're coming with us." Daisy reached out to grab the women's arm who visibly flinched and tried to step back.

"I work for a legitimate organization sanctioned by the government. You have no legal right to do this. To keep me prisoner. You both are making a huge mistake."

Melinda gazed over the woman. "You made the mistake lady. You underestimated who you were dealing with when you decided to invade this place. Now we are going to show you just how big a mistake that was. Move it." Melinda pointed to the door. With Daisy flanking her on her left and May directly behind her, Rosalind Price was escorted to the pod and placed there. Melinda and Daisy moved into the cockpit of the Zephyr One.

"So you flying us out of here." Daisy asked her SO.

Melinda nodded as she settled into the pilot chair. Daisy shuffled her feet and gazed at Melinda asking her the silent question. Melinda smiled at her sudden display of shyness.

"You staying?"

"You saying I can."

Melinda shrugged her shoulders and looked at the other seat. "As long as you don't talk my ear off, I guess it'd be okay."

Daisy grinned and plopped down on the seat. She buckled up as Melinda made the announcement.

"Wheels up in one. Buckle in."

As the roar of the engine came on Daisy smiled at Melinda and turned on her IPod. The sound of Elton John's 'Rocket Man' came blaring out and as they lifted off, muffled sounds of the two women singing along and giggling could be heard by a few people. Bobbi and Phil smirked at each other. Later, Melinda would vehemently deny that she was singing and was definitely not giggling. Cause everyone knows Melinda May does not giggle.


	17. Chapter 17

_Sorry for the long wait. Holiday stuff. Here is a chapter of fluff. More action coming soon. Thanks so much for the follows, favorites and reviews. Thanks for reviewing - they do inspire me to continue writing._

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It was around two hours later that May double checked the coordinates that Phil had given her. She knew they were somewhere near the southeast. She did not remember any bases close to the area. She glanced at the seat next to her where Daisy had fallen asleep only about 20 minutes ago. She heard a few light snores and smiled. She hit her com that only Phil could hear.

"You going to give me a bit more information Phil, or just let me and the other planes circle around longer so we can draw attention."

"Ah do I detect a bit of a snarl Agent May."

"You know I can kick your ass, right Phil?"

"I love it when you talk dirty Mel."

She smiled. She had missed their banter. Their comfort with each other. They had lost some of that the last year, lost a bit of trust too. Maybe they could remedy that in the coming weeks.

"Well Phil we could talk about your ass and what I can do with it later, but now I need to land and I need to know where."

A gasp escaped the younger agent who must have woken when she heard Melinda talk. Melinda glanced to her right and was greeted with Daisy's comical expression and wide eyes watching her. Melinda laughed.

"Phil. The damn coordinates please. Your ass can be discussed at another time."

"Skye's listening to you isn't she?"

"Daisy. And yes. What's that stupid saying about a mouth hanging open to collect flies."

"My grandmother's saying Mel. And it is not stupid. My grandmother was very wise. I learned many things from her."

"Phil."

"Yeah, yeah I'm gonna send them to you Agent May. Gee sometimes it's just all work and no play with you."

"Hello. The part about sitting ducks, and fugitives Phil?" She glanced over at Daisy who had finally closed her mouth but was still staring at her intently.

"130-15-17-204-54-66. Happy?"

"Very." Melinda punched in the coordinates and then frowned. "Mexico Phil?"

"Yep. How's your Spanish these days?"

Skye had sat up at the word Mexico and was peering at the maps on the screen.

"Better than yours Phil. What exactly is it? A Shield base?"

"Affirmative. One that only a few, very few people know about."

Melinda touched her mic and spoke to everyone on the plane. "Buckle in. Wheels down in five." She turned her mic off and adjusted some more controls.

"Buckle in Daisy." She saw Daisy doing just that as she herself strapped in. "Looks like we are going to be about 20 miles from the US border." She spoke to Daisy giving her a small smile. "Glad I made you take that Spanish class?"

"Si?"

"Please tell me you know more that that."

"Okay. But you would know I'm lying so why bother?"

Melinda smirked and shook her head. "I guess I'll be buying all the groceries then." She glanced at the younger agent and grinned at Daisy's horrified expression.

"I'm gonna starve to death, aren't I?"

Melinda laughed then as she started turning instruments on the panel off and on and steering.

Daisy looked out the window at the fast approaching ground. "Um, you know there's nothing around down there right? Just dirt? May?

Melinda rolled her eyes and continued to land the plane. Daisy's eyes opened very big and then suddenly the dirt gave way and an opening formed. An opening large enough for their plane. Daisy visibly relaxed and then tensed again.

"Underground? We are going to be underground?

"Better than the side of a mountain, don't you think?"

Melinda busied herself with the actual touchdown. She continued that and after they were on the ground, or underground, she started shutting down the plane. She saw the rest of their fleet landing around her. The hanger was very large and accommodated all them and still had room leftover. She finished and looked over to Daisy who hadn't moved. In fact Melinda got a bit worried as Daisy seemed a bit pale too.

"Hey. We are down. Guess we should check out the new base. Come on Daisy. I want a good bunk."

Daisy sighed and took a deep breathe but did not move. She had her seat belt undone and pulled her knees up to lean her head on and clasped her hands around. "I can't stay here." Her voice sounded small. Small and scared.

"Daisy. Hey. Come on what's wrong?"

"I can't stay here Melinda." She repeated a little louder.

Melinda got up and turned to kneel next to Daisy. "What's going on Daisy." She kept her voice even and quiet.

"Daisy turned to look at her. "We're underground Melinda. I could topple the whole place on everyone. I can't stay here."

Oh. Oh. Her powers, Melinda thought. She was scared of hurting them by losing control. Just then her com crackled and she heard Phil in her ear..

"Melinda where are you? I need you to help to maintain order out here."

Daisy was now rocking on the chair staring at the ground.

"Negative Coulson. I need a few minutes. Find Bobbi and Mack. And Tasha."

"What do you mean you need a few minutes. Agent May I need..."

"Daisy? Hey. Come on it's just me. Talk to me okay. It'll be okay here. You have control. Most of the time anyway. You are fine."

Phil stopped talking when he heard Melinda's voice. Then he heard nothing as he heard Melinda click her com off. She just wanted to let him know. He sighed. Daisy had needed time off and help for awhile now, and he felt guilty for not seeing it sooner. He switched his com and barked into it. "Morse. Hunter. Mackenzie. Rominoff. Report to me in the hanger bay entrance ASAP. All other agents wait where you are for further instructions." He stepped off the plane and headed to the entrance trusting that his right hand would help Daisy and keep her under control, and that the rest of the team would be ready to lead this transition.

Melinda reached to touch Daisy's shoulder. Daisy looked up at her biting her lower lip, fighting the tears. "I don't...I just...I...I don't trust myself anymore. To be in control. I get ...I get these...I..." She turned her head as she lost her fight with her tears and they started falling. Daisy wiped frantically at her eyes, as her throat burned. She felt Melinda move around her and felt arms come up to embrace her. She wrapped her own arms around her SO and leaned her head on her shoulder. As she cried, she felt a few trembles on the floor, and worked to reel in her power. Melinda was talking gently to her repeating that she would be okay and they would work this all out.

Phil heard a few rumbles through the hanger and glancing back at the plane wondering for a moment if her should have gone to them. His pondering was interrupted.

"Director. What do you need us to do?" Mack inquired and he walked up to him with Natasha by his side, joined moments later by Bobbi and Hunter.

"Was that Daisy, sir?" Bobbi looked worried.

He nodded. "Agent May has her. She's fine. I need you all to get this organized. Cargo needs to be unloaded. The monolith put in a secure area. Everything put in place. Rooms assigned. Duties laid out. Mack you're in charge of inventory. Get Koenig to help and the crew that's here. It's small, only 6 staff currently. Bobbi, you and Hunter take care of assigning rooms and after that work on setting up our tech. Get Fitz to help with that. Assign duties Bobbi until May can come help. Oh and make sure you pick out May and Daisy rooms. Natasha I need you to come with me."

"Copy that sir.' Bobbi turned dragging Hunter with her.

Mack turned to Coulson. "And what will you two be doing sir? "

"I need to check out the facilities, and then figure out our next move concerning the ATCU. Agent Rominoff and I are on intel. I also might have another go at Price. Do what I asked and then work with everyone else to get the place up and running smoothly."

Mack nodded as he watched Coulson and the Black Widow turn and go through the double doors out of the hanger. He turned to find Koenig to help him.

After a little while Daisy pulled away from Melinda and used her sleeve to wipe her face. Melinda reached under her seat and handed Daisy some tissues. After blowing her nose and wiping her face more, Daisy sat still. She glanced to Melinda.

"I don't know why I am so like this. So ... just..." She waved her arm around for emphasis.

"Daisy I need you to listen to me okay." Melinda waited. Daisy finally looked up at her. "Daisy please listen okay." Daisy nodded. "I know what it feels like to think you are losing control. I know how painful it is to lose yourself, to wonder who you are, what you are going to do. To want to shut out the pain, but you can't. I know what it is like when you want to shut off everything and stay away, and not hurt the people you care about." She paused to gauge Daisy's reaction. Daisy had started crying again. Melinda reached over to her and wiped her tears away. She cupped her face in her hand. "But you are not alone Daisy. I am here. And just now when you started losing the control you got it back. You are in control now. I know you can get through this. And I am here. I'll help. We will all help you."

"I...I ...don't know. Look what happened Melinda. Before. When I get...when I...I ...can't stop thinking...It's like I relive it all over again. It scares me cause I can feel myself falling but can't stop...and "

"Skye. It's okay. You went through something no one should ever have to. It's normal to not be okay with it."

Daisy bit her lower lip and sighed, looking down at her feet. "She tried to kill me." She whispered. She wiped her eyes again and continued. "I can't stop it when it starts Melinda. It feels so real."

"PTSD. Daisy you need to talk to Andrew."

"I have. I did I mean. When it happened. After. After you left. Remember how I was before you left? After? After we all got back and I was in the infirmary? You saw. You saw how I was. The nightmares. The screaming. You held me. You were there."

"Yes Skye I was. And you got better. After those first weeks. I saw. Skye I wouldn't have left otherwise. You know that right? If I thought you weren't okay I would not have left." Melinda was almost pleading now. She had to make sure Skye understood. That she had just needed some time herself . That she too had taken a emotional beating.

"I knew everyone was hurting Melinda. Everyone including you. Part of that was me hurting you. Andrew cleared me. I thought it was okay but..."

"Hey. Come on Skye. I told you. I forgive you for that. I completely understand why you did what you did. You thought you were protecting your mother."

"But I should have known. I should have seen it Melinda. You taught me better than that. You taught me to see deception. To read people."

"Oh Skye. You needed to believe your mother. No one blames you for that. Any one of us in your shoes would have done the same."

"No! You wouldn't have Melinda. You wouldn't have betrayed your team. Your family. I was a fool."

"Skye. No one blames you. Honestly. Look, when it came down to it in the end, you were willing to do the unthinkable - to kill your own mother. To stop her at any cost. I shouldn't have let you go to find her. I should have gone. I'm so sorry."

"You're sorry? Oh my god Melinda. She would have killed you. I mean I know you're kick ass and all but no. She almost killed me. Her own daughter. That...I can't even..." Daisy shuddered. "I would never have been able to live with that." She threw herself back into Melinda's embrace, holding on tightly. "I can't lose you too."

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Daisy repeated herself. Melinda held the girl tightly against herself.

"Shhhhhh...Hey It's okay. Skye. It's gonna be alright. You'll be alright."

After a few moments, Daisy pulled back a little looking at Melinda. "She wasn't, you know."

"What?" Melinda looked at her.

"What I wanted. Jiaying wasn't anything what I was looking for. I had found that a long time ago. I'd already found my mom."

Suddenly it clicked for Melinda what Skye was saying.

"I just hadn't admitted it yet to myself." Daisy pulled back further afraid now to look at Melinda. Afraid she had crossed some sort of barrier there was no coming back from. Afraid that Melinda would be angry. Or worse, that she would reject her. She held her breathe waiting for Melinda to say something. When she didn't, Daisy dared to glance at her. Melinda was staring at her with her mouth open and her eyes wide. Daisy turned away and felt the tears building in her eyes again. Shit. Shit. Why did she say that? Melinda was her SO. Her mentor. Her teacher. She was definitely not her mother. She remembered back to the fleeting moment when she was searching, when she thought maybe she was. After all she was Asian. Around the right age. That thought had been squashed almost immediately after she had managed to get into Melinda's file, which Melinda never knew she had done. At least she didn't think so.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"Skye. It's okay." Melinda had regained her voice and most of her composure. "I'm not going anywhere."

Daisy looked at her again. "I wanted it to be true you know. At first. But I knew quickly there was no chance for you to be her. I looked it up. I'm sorry."

"I know. I know you went into my file Skye...um Daisy."

Daisy's head shot up. "You knew? But you never said anything. Never yelled at me."

"You needed to rule everyone out. I let you."

"Whoa. You knew what I was doing? The whole time? I checked everyone Melinda."

"You needed to know. I was never against you finding out the truth Daisy. Until it was capable of hurting you. Then I wasn't sure you could handle it. I was wrong. You handled it like you always do. And for the record. You are as close as I'll ever come too. You are everything I would want my daughter to be. I am very proud of you Skye...um shit...I mean Daisy." She grinned. "Not doing that great with that mom thing though, I keep calling you the wrong name."

"You are a great mom." Daisy said quietly. She was tired and could not filter her words anymore. Melinda was the only woman that ever cared, the only mom that she ever really had. She taught her more than any one person ever had. So what the hell Daisy thought.

Melinda took a deep breathe. So they were doing this now. It was as if Daisy couldn't wait another minute. Needed to know. Needed to move what they had a step further. Was waiting for acceptance or rejection. She thought about all the reasons this would be a bad idea. They worked together. They were professionals. They needed no more distractions. But wasn't she already in too deep to question any of that anyway. Didn't she already treat Daisy as though she was her own. The favorite as Jemma had said a few times. She looked over at Daisy who was watching her expectantly. And hopefully. There was no denying that Daisy what Daisy was hoping.

Melinda sighed. "I needed to clear my head. After what happened at Afterlife. Your recovery. Phil's recovery. All the implications of what was done. Andrew back in my life. I never meant to cause you pain Skye. I am so sorry. I care a lot for you, you know that right? You know how important you are? Not just to the team but to me? How seeing you hurt rips my insides apart. Seeing you struggle with this, being in pain, out of control...how much that tears me up. Cause yes, you are more than my student. More than just a team member. You are as close to having a daughter I will ever come. Hunter already calls you my mini me. I guess a mini me is kind of like a daughter." She smiled. Then she reached over to pat Daisy's head, who gave a short laugh and pushed her hand away.

"Hey. I'm not a dog."

Melinda laughed. "We are both kind of pathetic huh."

Daisy looked at her in question, her eyebrows raised. "What?'

"Deflection Skye. Humor. Sarcasm. Cause god forbid either of us actually open up completely."

"You're saying I am closed off?" Daisy puffed out in surprise.

"You bet I am."

"Well not as bad as you anyway. Look at all those words you used. Which was kind of scary too since you don't talk that much like ...ever."

Melinda smirked. And then before thinking too much about it, blurted out something she thought she'd never say to the girl, even knowing it had been truefor a long time. "I love you Skye."

Daisy blinked quickly, surprise evident on her face. She felt the tears once again escaping her eyes, but these were joyful ones not sad. "I love you too. You really are the only mother I've ever known. The only person who has earned that title for me."

Melinda reached to Daisy's face to gently brush the tears away. "I would be beyond honored to have you think of me as your mom. That you believe I deserve that title is...well...thank you Daisy."

Daisy smiled through her tears. "Gads when did you get so damn mushy. I always knew you were a soft teddy bear, but that mush is more Coulson's thing."

"Yeah well I'll kick your ass too if you tell anyone."

Daisy sat up straighter and grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it...mom."

The name cost her a soft whack on the back of her head but also earned her a full out laugh. Daisy's smile nearly split her face. Melinda's eyes were twinkling as she gazed back at the younger woman.

"We need to get out of here and help do something." Melinda got up and offered her hand to Daisy who took it and allowed Melinda to help pull her out of he seat. "You good?" Melinda's worried face checked on Daisy.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I can always ice myself again if I start shaking something."

Melinda gave her a dirty look. "No you won't. I don't want to ever see you do that in front of me again."

"So I'll make sure you're not there."

"Skye!"

"It's Daisy!"

"Smart ass." Melinda turned to go out the door. "You know I'm here Daisy. Come to me. Anytime. Okay?"

"Okay." She followed Melinda out of the cockpit. "I just hope someone got us rooms. Good ones."

"If not I'll just pull rank and throw people out. They are all scared of me you know."

Daisy laughed. "Teddy bear."

"I can still knock you on your ass you know. Teach you a lesson."

"Cuddly wuddly bear."

Melinda felt her lips twitch upward. "So help me Skye, you better not..."

"Daisy. For Pete's sake mom it's Daisy."

Melinda stopped short and Daisy nearly ran into her. Daisy paused, and got a bit worried. Maybe she carried it a little too far. Maybe Melinda had enough and was going to ...The attack was sudden. "Hey, stop. I'm not..." Daisy started laughing trying to push away her tormentor who was tickling her without mercy. Melinda had sidelled up to her and was holding her arms with one hand while tickling her side and belly. Daisy continued her verbal complaining between giggles while trying without success to fight off May. Daisy actually fell to her knees, too weak to hold herself up, as she batted unsuccessfully back at May. . "I give. Uncle. Come on Me...lllindda. St...st...op." She rolled onto the floor trying to cover her body from the tickle attack. Her giggles got louder.

Melinda was laughing loudly now clearly with the advantage. "So who's a teddy bear now. Huh Skkkkyyyyyyee! She shouted the name playfully.

"It...it...it's Dai...dai...sy!" Daisy shouted with glee still batting at Melinda's hands while she lay panting and giggling on the floor.

"Well this is interesting."

Both Melinda and Daisy stopped moving and glanced up. Natasha Rominoff was staring at them both with a hint of a smile and her eyebrows raised.

Daisy was no fool. "Help. We can take her."

Melinda startled at the outburst and looked at Daisy with shock. Natasha laughed. And then casually moved closer to Melinda. Oh hell no. Melinda tried to jump back and get away but Tasha was on her in a flash, taking her down. She pinned her arms down while Daisy sat on her legs moving pretty damn quick herself, and Daisy started tickling Melinda. Except Melinda didn't flinch. She raised her eyebrows at Daisy seeing the disappointment etched on her face. Melinda giggled at that. " Spy. I cannot afford to be ticklish." Daisy fell back and sighed. "Jeez Melinda. Seriously?" She glanced at Natasha who was still smiling and not letting go.

"What?"

"Her feet kid." Daisy grinned as she looked at Melinda's boots.

"Oh hell no. Shit. Do not take off my...my ... damn...Skye! Hey! Damn you Tasha." Daisy worked on the second boot and sock as Melinda struggled under Daisy's weight on her legs and Natasha's hold. The moment Daisy touched her feet she was done. She started laughing hysterically while making idle threats at both Daisy and Natasha.

Phil returned to the plane with the intent to help Melinda with Skye, no he meant Daisy. He was growing concerned that Melinda had not shown up or even contacted him. He walked onto the plane and heard laughter. No giggles. Laughter and giggles. And threats. He hurried to the sound and stopped short gazing at the sight before him. A tangled maze of arms and legs with yelling and laughter punctuated by an occasional loud profanity greeted him. He stood there dumbstruck as he saw three top Shield agents tickling each other. Three grown women rolling on the floor tickling each other. He smiled.

It was Daisy who saw him first. Her casual greeting stopped the other two though. "Hey AC."

Melinda pushed Daisy off her and tried to sit back. Natasha rolled over and stared up at Coulson. Daisy grinned and waved.

"So Agent May. I could use some help organizing the base. Agent Romanoff, could you continue your surveillance set up. And Daisy."

"Yeah."

Aren't there other people you can annoy that I may not need as much?"

She nodded and managed to look a little sheepish. "They started it sir."

Melinda shot her a dirty look, while Natasha tried not to laugh. Phil just shook his head and kept a neutral expression.

Melinda pulled herself up. "Um we'll be right out. Sir." She emphasized the sir part.

Natasha got up and held out her hand to Daisy to pull her up. "We make a hell of a team kid." Melinda rolled her eyes. Daisy giggled.

"So now that we've established romper room is over, please get to work." With that Phil turned and walked of the plane. His face breaking into a huge grin as he walked away. What ever Melinda had done for Daisy had obviously worked. He hadn't seen her that carefree or happy in months. He'd ask Melinda later what happened, when they were alone.


	18. Chapter 18

_Yeah so it's been awhile. Life happens. And so do writers blocks. Anyway long chapter for you. I do have this story pretty well planned out now. It will be straying pretty far from the canon of the show, it is AU, but I am trying to keep certain aspects of Season 3 present in it as well. I will be addressing missing Jemma, Hydra and Ward, and Lash but in my own way. A story variation. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, keep them coming; and for the follows and favorites. For those who also follow my other 3 stories - updates are in the works. Thanks for reading._

* * *

The new base was smaller. Not the hanger area and the garage and the storage areas. Those spaces were much larger than the spaces provided at the Playground. It was the actual base living and working areas, size wise more comparable to Providence Base then the larger Playground. There were a limited amount of bunks.

By the time Daisy had entered the base from the hanger, and made her way to the bunk area, she found all the rooms occupied. The six agents already on the base had three rooms, the eight agents who had come along from the Playground who had lived on base there took four more rooms. Bobbi bunked in with Natasha, much to Hunter's dismay who found himself sharing a room with Mack. Joey and Lincoln shared a room. Koenig and Fitz shared the last room.

Wondering around the base, trying to see where she might be able to sleep, Daisy ran into Laney.

"Rooms are all taken, huh?"

Daisy nodded, giving up at that point, wondering if Bobbi would let her sleep on the floor in her room.

Laney spoke up also a bit agitated. "If that woman wasn't in the containment living area we could go there. Maybe we can tie her in the garage and move in."

Daisy laughed. "Pretty sure AC would not be happy about that."

"Well, why should she be comfortable and we get ...what, sleeping here on the sofas?" Laney pointed to the room they had just walked into. A common area with furniture and tables. Daisy noticed the kitchen was part of the room as well with no walls dividing it.

"Well at least it's not the floor."

Daisy walked over to the far side of the room, swung her pack off her shoulder onto the sofa and plopped down.

"Dibs on this one."

Laney frowned as she took the other sofa laying across it to test it out.

"Lumpy. Ugh."

"Well let's find some sheets, I've slept in much worse before."

They made their way to the storage area to get supplies. There they ran into Melinda who was searching for towels.

"Hey Melinda. You know where the sheets and blankets are?"

"Pillows too. A pillow would be nice," Laney added.

"Shouldn't that stuff be in your rooms already?"

"Yeah, maybe if we had a room. None left."

Melinda swung her head around to gaze at Daisy. "Oh that's not right. I'll get you a room. Some of the agents will just have to double up. Come on."

"Um Melinda. That's not gonna work. They all are already doubled up. Rooms are too small. They barely fit two people. We're fine. At least we found sofas, right? I slept in my van, remember."

Melinda eyed the two as she watched them grab sheets and pillows, and then came to a decision. "Come on. Follow me."

She led them to the bunk area. Poking her head in Mack's room she spoke to him.

"I need you and a few others. Meet me at the end of this hallway." She left no room for argument. So Mack trudged along with the girls as they followed Melinda. Finally getting to the end, with Hunter, Joey and Lincoln also in tow, Melinda pointed to the storage door in front of her.

"Extra beds. I need you four to bring two of them to the front of the base by Coulson's office. You two," she pointed to Daisy and Laney, "get your stuff and meet me there as well."

Coulson had chosen to just bunk in his office, there was a small adjoining room large enough for a bed, which he got from storage, with a small bathroom offsetting it as well. The room next Coulson's was not a traditional bunk room either and it was a bit larger. Melinda had grabbed it as her office, since it already held a desk and also put a bed in it.

The girls stopped in front of Coulson's office. Melinda poked her head out of the room next to it.

"In here." She opened the door wider and motioned for them to enter. "You'll stay here. It's big enough although it will be tight."

Melinda had pushed the desk and her bed closer leaving what looked like enough space to put two beds corner to corner on the other side.

"I shoved the dresser in the closet which minimizes closet space but you both can keep some of your stuff under your beds. We'll find storage containers. At least it's a good temporary solution."

Daisy walked over to her SO and hugged her. She knew more than anyone how hard it would be for Melinda to share her personal space. That she was willing to do so, made Daisy tear up.

Just then they heard a loud commotion from the front of the door.

"Bloody hell, I don't know. She said to come here, so that's what we do." Melinda smiled as Daisy pulled away from her embrace. Melinda opened the door and proceeded to give the guys directions.

* * *

A few hours later Daisy was sitting cross legged on her bed checking her computer. She was trying to find clues to the ATCU and their real mission. Melinda was paging through paperwork that Natasha had copied doing the same. Suddenly Melinda slammed her hand down on her desk over the papers and jumped up. Daisy startled a bit and eyed her warily.

"You got something?"

"No. Not a damn thing. Nothing more than we had." Melinda ran her hand over her forehead and frowned. "I'm going to see to our prisoner again."

Daisy put her computer down and stood up. "I though Phil already had another go at her. How is talking to her again going to be any different?"

"I didn't say I would be talking to her."

Melinda turned to leave the room, but Daisy grabbed her arm. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Melinda glared back at Daisy. "Well talking is not helping is it? They have prisoners and we need a way in, without tipping them off and we need more information. She is not very forthcoming is she? Time for talk is over."

"Maybe not. Maybe we just need a plan. Let her think we already have what we need. Everyone has a weakness Melinda. We have to find hers."

"Daisy, we need to move on this. Now."

"Yeah, I know. But I think she believes she is helping. She actually thinks she is right. That I am ...we are...infected,...a disease. But it also seems personal. To her. Didn't you get that feeling when we talked to her? What she is doing to the inhumans is not just business?"

Melinda thought back to the conversation with the woman. "She was scared all right. You think she has a personal stake in it? Someone she knows is inhuman? "

"I think it's a great possibility. We need to work on that angle."

"How?"

"Well I've been trying to get her full background. Some of them are blocked well. But I have this lead form one of her aliases I was working on just now. There's a name that keeps popping up but I can't connect it quite right yet. Give me a little while."

"What connection Daisy?

"I think that she had children. But not under the name Price. But I have to sort it all out. There are some firewalls I'm having trouble cracking though."

"You could use some help?"

Daisy grinned at her. "I know you're all ninja badass and stuff, but if I can't figure this out," she pointed to her computer, "pretty sure no one can. I just need time, is all."

"And maybe another smart ass hacker could shorten that time."

Daisy stared at her blankly till sudden realization dawned on her. Oh yeah. Natasha Romanoff was on base. Melinda did turn then to go find Natasha.

* * *

Soon both Daisy and Natasha were deep into secured government files. They along with Melinda and Phil were in the Director's office. They had been at it for almost an hour. Phil was pacing and Melinda was giving him dirty looks for pacing.

"Bingo."

Phil gazed at Natasha. "You found something?"

Natasha shared a look with Daisy. Daisy spoke up. " She has two kids. Names are Sam and Paige Guthrie. Well not kids. Paige is 19 and Sam is 22. Father was named Thomas. He's deceased. Died in 2007."

Natasha continued. "At that time Price was working for NASA under the name Campbell. Sam and Paige moved in with their father's sister and her family in Kentucky. Sam went off to college 2 years later and Paige followed suit 2 years after that getting early admission at 17 years old. Paige is enrolled as a junior at Yale, while Sam was attending medical school at Stanford. Sam went off grid 2 years ago. Paige has not been seen or heard from for 6 months."

Daisy looked at May. "A lot of this does not add up."

Coulson looked at both. "Keep digging. I'm gonna talk to Ms. Price again. Melinda, you coming?"

She nodded. "You guys find anything, talk to us on the comms. Maybe we can rattle her and get her off guard. If she is protecting her children, she'll be afraid of what we know. Let's make sure we have that leverage."

Natasha nodded and sat back on Coulson's desk her mind focused back on the computer. Daisy sat back down, leaning back with a sigh, propping her computer on her knees, and started typing again.

* * *

Melinda opened the door and entered the holding room first. Making sure it was clear and Price held no danger, she motioned Coulson inside. Rosalind Price was sitting quietly on the sofa. She barely flinched when they entered. Phil walked to her and sat on the coffee table in front of her. Melinda looked around the room taking in the untouched plates of food and unopened water bottles on the dining table. She moved to position herself behind Phil watching the other woman. Melinda listened as Phil started talking. He called her Rosalind. She smirked a bit as he used every page of the interrogation book. Familiarity. Concern. Soft voice. Friendliness. Compassion. Understanding. She watched Price's face as he talked to her. She was good, Melinda thought. Most likely hungry, tired, worried, fearful, angry, dehydrated. But the woman's face showed no emotion as Phil talked to her. Till he mentioned the two names.

"So Rosalind. Who are Sam and Paige?"

Melinda watched closely as the woman's emotions flashed across her face. First surprise, then fear, then anger, then nothing.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Phil." Her response was curt and angry.

Phil smiled. "Oh we both know that's not true. Paige is 19 now right? And Sam is what? Almost 23. Used to attend pre med at Stanford. And Paige was so smart she got a full ride and early admittance to Yale. Quite outstanding children you have there Roz."

"Leave them the hell out of this. I'm warning you."

Melinda bit her lip to stop a smile from forming. So far it was working. The woman was showing signs of stress and fear. Just what they wanted.

"Let's see. You married Thomas in 1992. Had Samuel Zachary Guthrie a year later. Then, Paige Elizabeth was born in 1997. Cumberland, Kentucky. A farming community. Thomas was a teacher. What exactly did you do? Most people thought you worked for the local factory as a secretary. But that's not quite true now is it?"

Melinda was hearing everything Phil heard as both Daisy and Tasha were feeding them information as they followed Phil's lead in his questioning. She smiled. Both Daisy and Tasha were top notch hackers. If anything was to be found they would find it. And maybe a bit of faking what they knew would make Ms. Price break and give up something as well. It really was something to see Phil manipulate the woman and work everything to his advantage.

"C.I.A. wasn't it. Undercover. What was out there in little old Cumberland, Kentucky that had the C.I.A. working there? Tell me Rosalind, did Thomas even have a clue?"

The woman was growing angrier. "Don't you say anything about him. You have no right to any of those files. How the hell..."

"We have everything Roz. When are you going to just figure out we will always be one step ahead of you. Our resources far outnumber your measly government sources."

"I have the President's backing Coulson. And I have Malick's. There is no way..."

Melinda actually smirked. She listened as Daisy spoke in her ear. "I'm on it. Malick, Malick, Malick. Oh, I got a Gideon Malick. Um, yeah. Gideon Malick. World Council. 2010 - oh shit."

Daisy paused as her eyes shot up to look at Natasha.

Natasha whispered it as Coulson said the same word. "Hydra."

"Hydra!" Melinda couldn't stop the word from coming out. Her eyes widened as she and Phil shared a knowing look.

Daisy voiced everyone's feelings. "Fuck."

"You can say that again." Natasha was frantically typing away as she muttered in Russian to herself.

Melinda looked back at the dark haired woman, who looked completely confused. Oh shit, she was in the dark. Working for Hydra without knowing it. The government once again had Hydra in it's midst covered by a bunch of misguided fools. That meant that this woman was not in charge and whoever was had control of a bunch of inhumans and had orchestrated a takeover of a shield base in the guise of the good guys defeating the supposed bad guys.

"Hey guys." Melinda and Coulson stilled as Daisy's voice came over the comms above Natasha's mutterings. "Um hey guys, I'm getting a message over an old Shield network. Like the one Hydra was using with absorbing stone guy. It's like finding the Malick file opened it up. " She paused.

"What is it Daisy?" Natasha sounded concerned. Which made Melinda concerned.

Natasha watched as the color drained from the young hacker's face. The look on her face turned to one of horror as Natasha heard the younger woman literally gasp out.

Melinda grew even more concerned at the now complete silence in her comm. She spoke. "Daisy what is it."

"Ward." The word was whispered.

"Come again Daisy. What was that?" Coulson chimed in.

Daisy shook her head violently as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Her throat tightened as she read the uncoded message again.

'Hey Skye. How's the gang? Roz is our present to you. No hard feelings right? Nice base you have here, lots of room. I didn't see much when I visited before. Oh BTW the ATCU no longer exists. It went kaboom. With everyone in it. Can't wait to take what I want and wake you up.'

"Daisy! Natasha!" Melinda felt her heart racing.

Natasha gently took the computer from Daisy's hands. She read the message over the comms as it appeared on the screen.

Melinda bolted out of the room.

"Stay here and don't try anything. I'll be back." Coulson closed and locked the door behind a very confused woman, before running after Melinda.

After reading the message Natasha set the computer down, and sat down next to the younger woman. Daisy was breathing unevenly and a she felt the sofa shaking a little. Daisy had turned white and was clenching her fists.

"Hey Daisy. Hey come on. How about taking a deep breathe okay?"

Daisy looked at her with tears now freely flowing down her face. "I ...I ...shou...should...have kill...kill...killed...him. I should have killed him! "

Daisy was shouting and her whole body was shaking. She stood up and bolted toward the door. Natasha stepped in front of her to prevent her from leaving. Daisy backed away from her, her eyes wide as the room started shaking. Natasha talked to her quietly while keeping herself between Daisy and the door. Moments later the door burst open as Melinda flew into the room. Daisy had backed herself into the wall away from Natasha, and when she saw Melinda she slumped to the ground. Melinda knelt in front of her and pulled her into her arms. Daisy wrapped her arms around Melinda and hugged tight.

Natasha raised her eyebrows at Coulson as he entered motioning him into the hallway. He glanced at Melinda and Daisy, seeing that Melinda had her, then walked out with Natasha.

"I've never seen anyone turn that white before unless they'd been shot. Phil, who the hell is Ward?"

"Agent Grant Ward. He was a member of this team. He was Hydra, Tash. He almost killed Bobbi. Tortured her. Tried to kill Melinda and Hunter. Sent Fitz and Simmons to their certain death in the bottom of the ocean. Kidnapped Skye ...um, I mean Daisy twice. Killed Hand in cold blood. Point blank, shot her while she thought he was Shield. Murdered Eric Koenig. He's a psychopath. Cares for no one but himself."

"Those last words, Phil? In that message? Were they a threat? 'Can't wait to take what I want and wake you up.' Was that directed at Daisy or the team?"

"Yes to both. He wants to hurt us all. But he has a very unhealthy obsession with Skye. He thinks they are destined to be together."

At that revelation Natasha clenched her fists. "You think he is going after Daisy then."

"Yes. I think that is part of his goal. But he also wants Bobbi, me, Hunter and everyone else dead. Mostly Melinda though. He blames her for Kara's death. And that's a very long story. Ask Mel to tell you sometime. But for now we need to figure out what the hell they are up to. Besides Ward's personal agenda."

"Yeah I'm on it. I'll check those communication networks. Trace what I can. Give me access to Ward's files Phil. Let me help. It's not personal with me. Maybe I can give a different insight."

Phil looked at her thoughtfully. "Yes, yes that's a great idea. I'll get everything together I have. See me in about 30 minutes. Meanwhile get on that network, and crack it. Make sure we are safe here. I'm gonna put Skye back on Price's family and keep her mind occupied."

"Copy that. Sounds like a plan." Natasha noticed his worried look as he glanced back at his office. "She'll be okay Phil. She's in good hands." She gave him a small smile and then turned to leave.

Phil nodded. Yeah Melinda's got her. She'll be okay he thought. He hesitated but than walked back into his office. Skye...no, damnit...Daisy was sitting on the sofa with Melinda sitting next to her. Her breathing was even and a bit of color had returned to her cheeks. Melinda had her arm around Daisy's shoulders talking softly to her. His breathe hitched as he watched Melinda comforting Daisy. At that moment they looked like mother and daughter. How had he never noticed just how much Daisy did look like Melinda. Same hair. Same dark eyes. Anyone who didn't know any better might assume they were exactly that. And why not. Phil knew how much the younger woman meant to the seasoned agent. He had seen it even back before Melinda would admit it to herself. He saw Melinda lose control and nearly pummel Quinn to death because he dared to hurt Skye. Even back then he knew that Skye meant the world to Melinda. Not just to him. To all of them. She had touched each of them in some way. Even Grant Ward had allowed her inside his life. His warped life. Phil grimaced thinking about Ward. How could he have been so wrong about him. How he betrayed the very core of everything he, everything Shield stood for. Protection. Serving. Compassion. Good. Phil walked around to the other side of the sofa and sat down. He put his hand over the young woman's and squeezed it. She looked up at him with tears still running down her cheeks and blinked back at him with her sad eyes. He wiped a few stray tears from her face.

"We'll get him Skye. He's going to make a mistake. And we will be there. This time he will not get away."

She nodded. "Ki...kill him. We...we...we... have t... to. He's nnnnnever gonna st...st...stop. He...he needs to be stopped." Daisy stuttered a bit as she barely whispered.

"We will Daisy. We'll stop him." It was Melinda who reassured her.

"No! Not just stop. Kill him. We have to." Daisy's voice grew louder as her eyes widened looking back at Melinda. Melinda pulled her into a hug. Daisy put her arms around her SO hugging back tightly. Coulson ran his hand up and down her shoulders and back.

"Yes, Daisy. That may be our only option. We are going to get him."

Phil looked at Melinda and communicated silently. Daisy was normally the positive one, always looking for the best in everyone. She was now talking of putting someone down with no hesitation. So unlike her. Ward had really shook her up. But Phil nodded at Melinda. If that's what if took, he was all for it. He was sick of Grant Ward hurting the people he cared about. Hurting the people he loved. He knew Melinda would have no issue with taking him out either.

* * *

A few hours later they had a plan. They knew Ward would be long gone from the Playground. They had already figured it a loss and were certain that Ward would have rigged it to explode if anyone came near. No one was going near the Playground. The plan was a mission to the ATCU plant. To see if it was really gone.

Clint Barton had made his way back to their new base. He had talked with Natasha and caught up on everything, and was currently leaning on Phil's desk as the mission brief was going on. He glanced at the people around him. Tasha was standing by the side of the sofa with her arms folded. Next to her sitting on the sofa were Melinda May and the two powered girls, the older one scrunched into Melinda, who did not seem to mind the contact at all. Phil was in front of the large screen, with Billy Koenig to his direct left. To his right were the other powered people, two men. Tasha had told him one could shoot out electricity and the other one could melt metal. He shook his head. He just hoped all those powered people were truly on their side. Also in the room were Bobbi and Hunter and a huge guy named Mack and a smaller guy everyone called Fitz. Also there standing off to the side, was Andrew. Andrew Garner. Clint had heard of him when he was at Shield. He was one of their Psychiatrists they kept on a consulting basis. What he hadn't known was that he and Melinda had been married. That was a surprise. Phil had him there to access the inhumans. He must have arrived recently too. Clint noticed Andrew kept staring at his ex-wife. Clint turned his attention back to Phil.

"So talking with Price more, Tasha and I found out she was in the dark about Hydra. She hasn't told us everything, but she did give us the layout of her old base. We are still hoping she gives us more, but for now she is very confused and frightened for her children. Both are apparently inhumans. Her son changed a while ago and her daughter recently. Now what Ward told us might be true. The place could be a pile of rubble. Or a trap. But it's what we have and we need to be sure."

"Wait. Her son turned a while ago. Into an inhuman?" Lincoln interrupted. "How? As far as I know, Jiaying and Gordon were the only two who could allow people through the terragon mist. They told me they were the only ones who had it. You know before..."

"Before I dumped a shitload into the ocean, and screwed everything up." Daisy frowned and laid her head on her knees which were pulled up in front of her. Melinda patted her back.

Lincoln smiled at her sympathetically. "Hey that's all on Jiaying. You didn't know what would happen. Anyway, how did that women's son turn then? He had to have gotten hold of the mist somewhere. We know he didn't turn old school like Daisy did."

Daisy lifted her head and looked back to Lincoln. "Maybe he was like you Lincoln. Maybe Jiaying or someone else at Afterlife mentored him."

Natasha raised her eyebrows at Clint. Just how many people like Daisy were there? And how many were dangerous? She asked the question out loud. "So how many of you were there at this Afterlife place? She gazed directly at Lincoln.

He shrugged. "I can't be sure. I wasn't there all the time. But the number that went through the mist was small. Gordon and Jiaying of course. Me, Alicia, Pete, Jason, Laurie and Ryan. Charlie and Martin, her guards. There were a few others. All those are dead or were feared to be captured. Alicia was trying to find Laurie and Ryan when she was captured. Pete was killed by Lash. There were a few more in and out. Some I never really met. Oh yeah there was Sam. He was pre-med too, like me. Most of the inhumans now are the new ones. Like Laney. And Joey."

"Did you say Sam?"

Lincoln looked over to Coulson. "Yeah. Sam. They changed his last name cause he didn't want his family tracking him down. Sam Freeman. Gave him a whole set up - fake ID and fake school records. Although he really was pre med when he turned. He told me that Jiaying had found him and wanted him because he was pre med. Like me. She needed us to help the new inhumans transition."

"Like you helped me." Daisy spoke softly.

Lincoln smiled at her. "So I take it Sam is important."

"He's a piece of the puzzle. I think he could be Rosalind's son." Phil looked at Daisy.

"Yeah that would make sense. Why she was trying to find a cure or reverse it." Her husband must have had the inhuman gene and passed it to them. She sees it as a curse." Melinda added.

Daisy nodded. "She's not completely wrong."

Laney whipped her head to glare at Daisy. "That's not what you told me. You told me it was part of who I am. I need to embrace it. Not be afraid. That's exactly what I did. I thought you did too Daisy. I thought you were strong."

"Hey back off." Lincoln became protective. He took a step toward Daisy, but Joey grabbed his arm.

"Hey bro. Chill."

"Strong? Strong Laney? What the hell. Have you not been paying attention. Hydra is collecting or killing inhumans. Lash is still out there killing inhumans. And Ward is..." Daisy jumped up. "I didn't ask for this." She flew her arms around wildly. "Fucking Ward kidnapped me and then my father set this all in motion, and then my mother tried to kill me! My mother tried to kill me! I almost had to kill her." Her voice lost it's venom as she bit her lower lip to stop the flood of tears. "So yeah, she's not completely wrong. Most of it sucks. And now I can't even stop the monster that is killing us, and Hydra is back. Simmons is missing and that's my fault too. And I had a chance to kill Ward. Twice. And I was too weak. So everything he's done is my fault too."

Melinda stood up and reached for Daisy. Pulling her by her arms she kept hold and made Daisy face her.

"You are not weak. And it is not your fault. You need to stop having this damn pity party Skye and start figuring out how to fix this. We need you. Your skills. Your strength. Your power. You need to get into their minds like you always do. Figure it out Skye. I get it. And I'm sorry for what happened. But this is it. What you have. We can't go back. None of us can. We have to keep plowing forward. Look around you. We are all here to help. None of us blame you. But you need to help fix this. We need you if we are going to defeat Ward. And Hydra. And Lash." Melinda paused and brushed Daisy's wayward hair from her eyes. "I am here with you. Side by side. Always."

Daisy swallowed back her tears and gave Melinda a small smile. Then she nodded. A few tears fell and she blinked rapidly. She looked around the room. She caught Leo's eye. He nodded at her with a look of pure determination.

Daisy looked back to Melinda. "First things first then. This mission. We need to find Alicia and the other inhumans. Then we help Fitz find Jemma. Then we deal with Ward."

There were nods all around. Clint watched as the tight group closed ranks. Natasha winked at him. He smiled. Yeah this was going to be fun. Villains and monsters, and powered people, oh my.


	19. Chapter 19

New chapter. This one is full of surprises I hope. I am obviously heading in a different direction with inhumans, and everything then the show. I will use some stuff from the show but obviously with my take on it all. Ward is still evil. I have quite a few characters now. Thanks for reading. More drama to come in the next chapter, and more team bonding.

* * *

Mack, Clint, and Lincoln sat in the van looking at the imploded building. The building that formerly housed the ATCU.

"Yeah it's leveled. Completely. No trace of anyone and no rubble to go through." Mack spoke into his comm to Coulson.

"Okay Mack. Meet up with the other team and get on back here. The Playground is gone. Natasha verified it."

"Roger that."

Coulson turned to the others. "The ATCU building is gone. The Playground is gone. Hunter and Natasha and Joey checked the Playground. Knowing Ward - those ATCU agents left there we still inside. Tasha said it was some new explosive. Well not new but modified. Nitramene. Fitz and Bobbi, I need you researching that. Daisy, work with them. The materials needed, access, who and where they got it from."

The three agents turned to leave. Bobbi and Fitz walked out the door but Daisy turned back.

"Hey Phil."

Melinda and Phil both looked up from the paperwork spread across his desk.

"Leo found something about the monolith. We need to work on that too."

"Yes. But this first. This is priority. Ward and Hydra are collecting inhumans and we need to find out why and stop him."

"He is positive she's alive. I want to believe that too."

Melinda gave her a gentle smile. "We all want to believe that Daisy. It's just ...we have run out of theories. We haven't given up."

"He thinks we have." She turned and left the room, her last words barely discernable.

Hours later Daisy and Bobbi were still in the lab working on bomb research. Natasha had returned with the others and had come into the lab to help Daisy track online. Fitz had left earlier claiming he had a bad headache, and he needed to lie down. Lincoln was also present helping Bobbi with trying to understand the bomb and how it imploded.

"Yeah so it seems that Malick has deep pockets." Natasha frowned. "He owns this one company under a pseudonym. A company that supplies the US military with ingredients that should have been banned years ago. Is everybody crooked anymore?"

"Yes." Lincoln smirked at her.

"That was a rhetorical question." She rolled her eyes.

Natasha frown deepened as she stared at the screen again. "That makes no sense."

Melinda looked up from her own laptop. "What?"

Natasha sighed. "Something weird. I'm looking at an old abandoned warehouse, actually a bunch of warehouses the government gave up years ago. Popped up under the search for Malick. In Cumberland, Kentucky, we used to keep watch on them. Maria was sure they were shady. Some weird government experiments but they just seemed to disappear before we could investigate. We didn't follow up cause there didn't seem to be a reason to."

"Wait what did you say. The place. Where?" Daisy walked over and leaned over the chair Natasha was sitting on to peer over her shoulder.

"Cumberland, Kentucky. It does sound familiar."

"Roz's kids, her husband. She worked there. That cannot be a coincidence."

May raised her eyebrows as she glanced at Coulson. "We need more information from her Phil."

"Yeah. Let's go. Melinda you and Daisy come with. Nat, keep searching. Bobbi, you and Lincoln keep ...um...whatever you are doing."

"Copy that sir."

The three made their way back to the pod where Rosalind Price was. May entered first followed by Daisy then Phil.

Rosalind looked up as they entered and then stood up. "What happened. Is it about my kids. So help me Coulson if you hurt my kids..."

Phil held up his hand. "No not about them. But if you want to keep them safe maybe you should help us."

Melinda stood next to Phil and motioned for Rosalind to sit. After looking at all three, and seeing Daisy guarding the door, she sat back down.

Phil spoke up again. "Look Rosalind. You have no choice. Cooperating is your only option. The place you worked when you lived in Cumberland, Kentucky, when you were married to Thomas Campbell. What was it and what were you doing? Malick was involved wasn't he?"

Rosalind stayed quiet and glared at Phil.

"Malick's collecting powered people. Maybe your kids. To brainwash them. Or even hurt them." Daisy spoke softly. "Maybe even experiment on them. Kill them. We can help your kids. Protect them. Maybe your daughter just changed recently. Maybe she's scared. I know I was at first. I can help her. We can help her and your son. Lincoln thinks he knows him. Help us to be able to help them."

Rosalind looked over at Daisy. "How can you help them? By imprisoning them? I thought they could be cured. Now I know that was just a farce. That was my only hope."

Daisy walked over to Rosalind and sat on the table in front of her. "Look this is not a disease. I am not sick okay. Neither are your kids. This being inhuman, having powers, changing was always part of who we are. Who we were meant to be. We've changed and now we can help change the world for good. We're just different and now we can make a differnece in the world."

Rosalind shook her head. "You're wrong. It's a curse. My husband...I know it's a curse. It's ruined so many lives. He never wanted Sam and Paige to go through this."

"Had your husband been through terrigenesis?"

"He never wanted to. He wanted to stay away from them. That's what we were doing in Cumberland. A small group of us were trying to come up with a cure back then. Thomas and I were working with Malick for a cure. Thomas' sister was made to go through the changing. She turned into...she became something else. Thomas wanted to help her. Thomas's brothers insisted they all had to change, to become inhumans. His father spent the last few years of his life looking for the terrigen crystals. The ones that Jiaying stole from the Royal family."

Daisy's eyes grew big at the mention of Jiaying.

Melinda questioned. "Royal family?"

"Well the descendents of them. Thomas's father and his brothers and sister were descendents of the Inhumans Royal family. They said only those with Royal blood should go through that ...process...that should change. They were the only ones who were worthy."

Daisy shot a look to Melinda and Phil. Lash was killing inhumans because he deemed them unworthy.

"So, your kids would be worthy?"

"No. Not my kids. They were only half inhuman. Both Thomas's parents were inhuman. His father told him that others who went through, other than the Royals with both inhuman parents, had a bigger chance of deformities, going insane or turning evil."

Daisy looked at Melinda. Both were thinking of Katya and her mother.

Rosalind continued on giving them more information. "Jiaying didn't agree. Jaiying's mother was a descendent of the Royal family but her father was human. She thought it was a birthright to go through terrigenesis. That all inhumans were worthy. That's why Jiaying took Sam. Convinced him that we were keeping him from his full potential. Filled his head with stories of the older inhumans and how they were meant to rule over the world. She wanted to have him on her side. She convinced him the Royals were wrong and that she was right. She wanted a war. That's what Thomas said."

Melinda interjected. "Thomas, your husband died. Years ago. So he told you all this before he died. But only recently have your kids been aware?"

"No. Thomas is not dead. He's very much alive."

"Whoa! Your husband is alive?" Daisy practically shouted.

"He changed. His brother did it. He didn't want to go through the process. His brother said they needed him. He changed. He became something...not how he was...he changed...he can't..."

Rosalind stopped. She dropped her head down and put her head in her hands. After a brief pause she looked back at them, with her eyes watering.

"That's why I worked with NASA. We tried to find a way to find a cure. Malick kept insisting it was over there. Wherever those people went that passed through the monolith. But it didn't work either. Most of us just wanted our loved ones to go back to being who they were. Thomas. His sister. Her husband even volunteered to go through. He was desperate."

"So the monolith sends people somewhere?" Melinda voiced the question they all had.

"Yes. But no one has ever come back."

Daisy looked at Melinda in dismay. Melinda gave her a small encouraging smile continuing to shoot questions at Rosalind.

"You have your husband and his sister in stasis. And others. They were at the ATCU facility."

Rosalind could only nod.

Melinda sighed. This whole thing read like some kind of bad science fiction book to her. Transporting to other places? Royal family? "So you decided that Malick was your best option knowing he was with Hydra?"

"I didn't know that. I thought he wanted what we all wanted. A cure. His brother was one of those who went through the Monolith."

"He had a brother? When did his brother go through?"

"During a ceremony. They did it every so many years. Trying to find a way back. So they could bring the cure. That's what he kept telling me anyway. I don't know when. His brother was young though."

Daisy was taking it all in. "Hydra has all the inhumans. Including your husband and sister-in-law. Maybe your kids. And Alisha. Hydra wants to go to this other place for some reason. And Hydra has been working on this for years and years."

Rosalind shook her head. "No. Sam was with Jiaying. Paige didn't want to change. She was in school. I lost contact with her a few months ago. When the outbreak of inhumans started. I don't know where she is. I don't know where Sam is. But they are not in stasis."

"That you know of." Melinda added her thoughts.

"Rosalind. Jiaying's dead. And we never saw anyone resembling your son at Afterlife."

"Jiaying's dead? How? She could live on and on. Regenerate. Someone sacrificed themself every few years."

Daisy got up and started pacing. "No she actually took lives. To heal and stay alive. Jiaying had...she was...she had turned ...psycho."

Daisy looked at Melinda as if to confirm that was correct. Melinda nodded and walked to Daisy. She put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey it's okay."

"No Melinda it's not. It wasn't before and now, now we know all this. It's like a horrible nightmare we can't wake up from. Somehow Ward and Malick, and the monolith all tie in to Jiaying and the inhumans and now this...this ...the royal inhumans...that have apparently lived here for years and years and Hydra's collecting inhumans for who knows what and for how long, and it's...it's ...it's ...just crazy."

Rosalind stood up. "I need to go find my daughter. And my son. And find out what has happened to Thomas and the others. Please let me go."

Phil shook his head. "I'm sorry but you need to stay here. Give us more details. You need to work with Natasha and Daisy. Give us locations. Names. Details. We will work on trying to find your family."

"We'll find them Ms. Price. I'll help keep them safe."

"We will all help to figure this out. _We_ will keep them safe." Melinda smiled at Daisy who nodded back.

"Malick has more facilities. I can show you those that I know on a map."

Phil nodded. "This way then."

The four walked back to the lab area. Phil walked Rosalind over to Natasha and the two sat down looking at Natasha's laptop.

Melinda whispered to Phil. "She didn't give us everything. What was so bad about what her husband and his sister turned into?"

Daisy spoke up. "Well look at Lash and Raina. She said there may be deformities, or other things gone bad. Maybe that's what happened to them. Katya? She went nuts. Guess I lucked out."

Melinda shook her head. "No there's more to it. Rosalind knows more. About her husband and his family. She doesn't trust us. She's holding back."

"So we get her to trust us. If I can find her son, and bring him here, she might start trusting enough to give us everything she knows."

"No Daisy it's too dangerous. Ward's looking for you, and Malick and you just started..."

"Melinda. Please. I need to do something. I can take care of myself. You taught me how to plus I can use my powers now."

Melinda sized her up and down. "You'll do something whether or not we give the okay or not won't you?"

Daisy tried to appear somber but her upturned lips gave her away. "Probably got that from you."

"Okay Daisy. But look." Melinda grabbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Not alone. We get a team and we make a plan and everyone sticks to it. Got it?"

"Got it." Daisy sighed in relief.

Melinda continued. "Okay then. First thing is to get Lincoln and see what he knows about any of this. Then we need to get into Jiaying's head."

Daisy raised her eyebrows at her SO.

It was Phil who spoke up. "After we took over Afterlife before we turned it back to the inhumans with Alisha in charge, Alisha gave us your mmm...um ...Jiaying's things. Her books and such. I gave them to Andrew to research."

Melinda nodded at Phil. "Yes. We need to get Andrew involved and get those items. I'll call him and ask him to gather everything and then I'll take Hunter and Lincoln to get it. You stay here and work with Natasha and Rosalind on locations and anything else you find. Then when we return, I'll form a team go and to look for this Sam."

Daisy nodded. Melinda turned to go but Daisy held her arm. "Stay safe Melinda."

Melinda nodded and smiled. "You too." She turned to go find Lincoln and Hunter while Daisy joined Natasha and Rosalind. Phil turned to follow Melinda out the door.

"Hey wait up."

Melinda slowed as she allowed Phil to catch up to her. They walked side by side.

"You think she's ready? To go back out there."

"I think she will gp on her own if she doesn't go with us, so at least I can keep an eye on her. You know I won't let anyone hurt her Phil."

"Yeah but is she ready Mel?"

"I don't know. Her emotions are all over the place right now. But like I said I'd rather have some control over where she is and where she goes. I'll keep an eye on her Phil. I will have a strong team by her side. Me, Lincoln, Joey, Nat, Clint, Maria."

"Take Hunter too."

Melinda rolled her eyes. "Someone needs to stay back here on base."

"I'm staying. Bobbi. Mack. Fitzsimmons. Lanie will be here too. Take Hunter."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"Be safe Melinda. And say hi to Andrew for me." He turned to head back to his office. Melinda continued to the lab to find Hunter and Lincoln.

She was a few feet from the lab door when Hunter and Mack came flying out the door of the lab and then she heard the alarms blasting. What the hell.

Melinda reached for her gun and yelled at Hunter asking what was going on.

"It's Fitz. He's broken into the room with the monolith. He's gone mad."

Bobbi stood in the doorway of the lab with a horrified expression. Melinda sprinted toward the lower level access door, with Hunter and Mack on her heels.

Melinda flung open the door and the three barreled down the steps to the lower floor. They heard footsteps pounding on the stairs behind them. Melinda ran into the room with Mack next to her. Hunter was swearing behind them. Melinda saw a disheveled Fitz screaming and pounding on the monolith. She ran to him and grabbed him pulling him away. Hunter came up and helped pull him to the ground as Mack went to slam the door to the monolith shut. Daisy and Natasha flew into the room and the rock started turning to liquid. Daisy slammed into it helping Mack to shut it just in time as the liquid sloshed against the door. Daisy and Mack sat with their backs against the door as Natasha reached up to lock it.

"Are you daft?" Hunter had gotten up and was standing above Fitz. "What were you trying to do mate? Get yourself killed?"

Melinda was trying to catch her breathe as she looked at Fitz. He was sweating and red, and tears were rolling down his face.

"I needed it to do something. I need to find her. I need to find her."

Daisy's eyes filled with tears. Melinda pulled herself to a sitting position and reached over to grab Leo's arm.

"Hey. Calm down."

Bobbi finally made it to the room and went over to Fitz and knelt down by his side putting a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Leo, what were you trying to do?"

"Make it do something! Do anything! It hasn't done anything! It just sits there! It just sits there! It took her and it just sits there!"

Daisy crawled over to Leo. "Hey. Hey come on. You can't do that okay. We'll figure it out."

"How? How Daisy? All of you have given up. Just stopped believing that Jemma's alive. You all think she's dead. I'm not giving up. I'm not."

"Look Leo. We just got some new information. It could help us to figure this thing out." Melinda pointed to the monolith. But you can't do this. It turned and could have taken you too. We can't have you taken too."

Leo sat up more his face lighting up. "Yeah it turned. It turned."

"Yah. It turned and almost sucked Daisy in there. They just got it closed. In time. You're a lucky bastard." Hunter was still high on adrenaline and his voice was high pitched. Bobbi smacked his leg.

Leo got up and so did Bobbi and Melinda. He scratched his head. "It turned. It turned."

"Yes Turbo it turned. I think we've established that." Mack was still sitting with his back pressed against the door.

Daisy jumped up excitedly. "It hasn't turned since it took Jemma."

"Something made it turn." Fitz looked at Daisy. "Or someone?"

Daisy stopped moving and looked at Leo. Everyone else had puzzled expressions. "It moved when I came in the room." She looked at the monolith. It was still liquid. Daisy turned and ran out of the room, shutting the door. She watched from the window as everyone else turned to watch as the liquid formed back into a solid form.

"Um did that just..." Hunter was the first to speak.

Daisy opened the door and came running back inside. The solid rock once again became liquid.

Melinda walked to Daisy and put an arm on her shoulder. Daisy stared at the liquid monolith. Then she turned to Leo.

"Inhumans."

He nodded.

Bobbi shook her head. "But Jemma's not a ..." She closed her mouth as her eyes grew wide.

Melinda looked around the room. "We have to be sure. Hunter go get Lincoln and Joey and Lanie."

Daisy nodded. "Yeah good idea."

They were all gathered in the common area. They had performed experiment after experiment with the inhumans on base and every single time one entered the room the solid mass turned to liquid and every single time there was no inhuman present it returned to solid mass. The news that they could open the portal and that Jemma was most likely an inhuman was just sinking in to everyone. Daisy stated the question on everyone's mind.

"I wonder what power she has?"


	20. Chapter 20

_I am still updating this and all my stories on here. It's been a while for this one. Writer's block but most busyness with school, family and work. I will try to update more quickly next time but cannot make promises as to when. This chapter connects stuff, and sets up for more action in the next chapter. Thanks for reading. I love reading reviews. This is drifting away from Canon but will have canon pieces to it. It is my take on what happened after season 2, and the way I want all the relationships to go._

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Melinda pulled up to the college with Daisy and Natasha. Plans had changed since they had made the new discoveries about the monolith and Jemma. Hunter and Lincoln were with Fitz and Coulson trying to track down Professor Randolph to see if he could help with the monolith. Bobbi and Clint were working with Price to find connections to where Hydra and Ward might be. Joey, Laney, and Mack along with Maria, who had shown up at the base the previous night, were running tests on the monolith and researching it's history.

Daisy was smiling, practically bouncing around in the front passenger seat. She was glad to be out and doing something. Melinda glanced at her and smiled softly as she slowed the SUV to turn into the college parking lot. Melinda just hoped that Andrew could help with understanding more about the monolith or at least shed some light as to why Jiaying and Gordon had been so afraid of it. Melinda was also a bit wary thinking about talking to Andrew, since the last time they had talked she had basically told him she was not in love with him and wanted to move on. She knew he still wanted them to try again.

Melinda pulled into a parking spot and shut off the engine. Natasha jumped out of the car first, stretching her legs. She had been quiet the whole drive, preferring to listen to May and Daisy talk. The conversation had gone from May teaching Daisy to speak Chinese, which the younger woman had a grasp on but was obviously still learning; to Skye asking Melinda a million questions about her cruise with her ex, Andrew. What surprised Natasha the most was Melinda's patient answering of Skye's questions. Daisy was also smart enough to steer clear of the elephant in the room, of mentioning why Melinda and Andrew were not together.

"I'm going to find Drew, the three of us descending on him may not be a great idea."

"Um Melinda, I think I should be there. I mean, it was my mmmmm...um ...Jiaying's stuff and I'm the only inhuman here so..."

Melinda paused then nodded. "You and me. Tasha, follow us but hang back. Make sure no one followed and there is no danger. I didn't notice anyone while driving but..."

"Better to be safe than sorry. Copy that. I'll check in with Clint to see if anything is happening back at base."

"Good. Come on Daisy. Let's find Andrew's office. I'm sure that's where he keeps the items we gave him to study from Afterlife."

The two walked down the walkway with Melinda leading them to the Psychology building where Garner's office was, with Natasha trailing them. Melinda and Daisy walked into the building while Natasha choose to remain outside, sitting on a bench. Melinda walked down the long corridor of classrooms she was familiar with, Daisy next to her taking it all in. They entered a door which led into an area of many offices with Melinda finally stopping in front of the one marked 'Andrew Garner'. She opened the door and entered the small waiting room. She crossed the area in a few steps, pausing outside, then tried the office door. It was locked. She knew it would be. She glanced at her phone seeing it was almost three. She knew Drew would be done soon and he always came to his office before leaving for the day. She sat down, motioning to Daisy to do the same.

"Andrew should be here in a few minutes. We'll wait."

Daisy nodded back and got out her phone. She sent a couple text messages to Leo and then sat back and closed her eyes. Her mind went to Jiaying and Afterlife and what happened there. After Cal had come on the deck and taken care of Jiaying, she vaguely remembered Melinda dropping next to her talking to her before she had passed out. The next thing she remembered was waking up at the base in the med area. They had made an area for injured at the Playground and one on the ship for all the injured. Melinda had explained everything once she had woken up. She was in bad shape actually, Jiaying had hurt her more than she had realized, really weakening her, plus she had a pretty bad concussion when she had been hit over the head and taken prisoner at Afterlife. She was bruised and banged up with a couple cracked ribs and a broken wrist from her fight with the ninja gingas as she was calling them. Melinda had been worried, especially when she kept having the nightmares and panic attacks after. She had felt bad cause she knew Melinda probably wanted to be with Coulson. She had not believed what had happened and that Mack had to cut off Coulson's hand. Between her guilt and weakened condition and emotional state, Melinda had refused to leave her side the first day, which intensified her guilt. Coulson was brought back to base the next day though after surgery, so he was kept in a room near Daisy so Melinda eventually had spent her time between the two of them. After four days Daisy was deemed well enough to leave the med area, and Melinda insisted she stay in her room where there was a small bathroom. The next day Phil was allowed to move to his room behind his office as well.

Daisy shook her head to clear it trying to shake off the memories. The thought of seeing Jiaying's things and even going through them was making her uneasy. After everything had started getting back to normal, Melinda had approached her about going to Afterlife and seeing if she wanted anything of her mother's. Alicia and Lincoln had been overseeing the place, cleaning up and calming down the remaining people there, and had asked Melinda what to do with Jiaying's things. Daisy had vehemently claimed she wanted nothing to do with Jiayings' things or Afterlife. Melinda had not asked again.

Lincoln told her later that Melinda had given him instructions to pack everything up and bring it to her. They took all the inhuman related materials to Dr. Garner and the personal items were taken care of by Melinda. Daisy never asked her what she did with them. Just the thought of going through the inhuman books and items was enough to make Daisy's mind a little crazy thinking about how the they connected to Jiaying. She tapped her fingers on her thighs as they waited, bringing a glare from Melinda. She stopped tapping and reached for her phone to send a text to Fitz. He responded back that they hadn't found Randolph yet. As she was pocketing her phone, the door opened and Andrew Garner stepped into the room. He froze as he saw them. Melinda got up and stood in front of him.

"Hi Andrew."

"What do you want Melinda?"

"Hey Dr. Garner. Long time huh?"

"Hello Skye."

"Daisy."

"Huh?"

"It's Daisy now. I go by my real name. Daisy Johnson."

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Melinda did mention that. Good to see you." He smiled at her then turned his attention back to Melinda. "So what do you two want."

"We need Jiaying's things. We're trying to find out more about the monolith, and why she was so afraid of it and what she knew about it."

"We think there might be something there to help Jemma."

"Sorry Skye...um...Daisy. That'll take a little time to get used to."

"That's okay. Phil still gets it wrong too."

Andrew smiled. "Anyway I don't have her stuff here in the office. It's back at my house. Plus I went through it all, you know there wasn't much, just a couple of books. I didn't see anything about the monolith. If I would have I would have told you after it took Jemma."

"Melinda thinks maybe I should have a look. That maybe being inhuman might help."

Andrew smiled. "I don't think so Sk...um...sorry...Daisy. They are just books. Mostly ledgers, financial stuff and like. Nothing about monoliths or people. But I can get them for you. I just need to do a few things here in my office and then you can meet me at home Melinda." He glanced at his watch. "It's almost 3:30, so meet me there around 5:00?"

"Okay Drew. We'll be there. Thanks."

He nodded at his ex-wife and watched as they walked out the door. He opened the door and watched as they rounded the corner on their way out of the building. He closed the door softly and then walked to his office door, getting out his key. He slipped into the office.

Once they were outside, Melinda just walked past Natasha, nodded, and swung around to the side of the side of the building till she was out of sight. Daisy and Natasha followed likewise.

"You going to explain Mel?"

"Something's off."

"Okay. Like what?"

"Andrew. He is never that formal with me or Daisy. Plus up till a few weeks ago I had been getting texts and emails about us, about our relationship. And he usually teases Daisy."

Daisy nodded. "Yeah he seemed almost scared we were there. Or angry. Plus why not invite us in and all go over to his place together."

"Now you're thinking like a spy Daisy." Melinda nodded her approval.

"Or he could be dating someone and just isn't ready to tell you Mel and he is nervous."

Melinda shook her head. "No something's up. Not sure what, but I have an uneasy feeling."

Natasha glanced at Melinda and nodded. "I've learned the trust your uneasy feelings. So what do you suggest?"

"He doesn't know you're here Nat. I need you to go to our ...I mean his house and check it out. Daisy and I will do what he says and get there at 5:00. I think I'd like to check his office too."

"You're going to break into your ex's office and she's going to break into his house?"

Melinda frowned at Daisy for being so blunt. "Yes. I know him. Something's off."

"Well you could just ask him. I mean it's Andrew."

Natasha waved her hand. "I'm gonna go. I'll check the house quickly and be in and out. If I don't find anything off, I'll be at the little diner a few blocks away. Melinda you can pick me up there after and if I find something, I'll text." She walked away from them and disappeared around the corner of the building.

"Wait. You didn't tell her the address Melinda."

"She knows were Drew lives."

Oh. Oh! "So that's were you lived when ..."

"We were married. Yeah. Same place. Drew kept the house."

"House? You had a house? For some reason I never pictured you in a house. Oh that sounded bad. I mean I always pictured an apartment, um a small...uh...well ...you know the whole domesticated housewife thing...not your thing...I mean you never...shit...nevermind." Daisy clamped her mouth shut and avoided looking at Melinda.

Melinda's lips twitched upward and her eyes twinkled at Daisy's rambling. "It's okay Daisy. I was young then. I thought I could have it all."

"Then Bahrain happened huh?"

Melinda raised her eyebrows. Usually Daisy steered clear of talk of Bahrain.

Daisy continued. "I mean I know that's why you left Andrew back then, but you also went on a cruise with him and I just thought you still loved him. When he helped me after, you know, after, I could see he really cared for you. Still cared for you. His eyes lit up when he was with you."

So she finally went there. Melinda paused, thinking. Which Daisy interpreted as Melinda's way of telling her she crossed the line.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"It's okay." Melinda replied quickly and smiled.

Daisy glanced at Melinda surprised.

"I will always love Drew. What we had was something that I treasure and can never be taken away. But you are wrong Daisy. I didn't leave Andrew because of Bahrain. I left him because of me. I needed to be away from everyone, not just Andrew. My mom and dad. Coulson. Natasha and Clint and Maria. When I pushed everyone away, when I pulled myself out of the field, I lost myself. But I also learned a lot about myself. I found other pieces of me too. Pieces I had pushed aside when I married Drew. It's complicated."

Daisy reached out to touch Melinda's shoulder with her hand. "I know about complicated."

"Yes you do. You know that relationships are never simple, and always changing."

"And painful."

Melinda pulled Daisy into a hug. "Sometimes. But always worth it."

Melinda pulled away as her fingers came to lips. "Shhhhh..." She was looking over Daisy's shoulder. She pulled Daisy and herself around the corner where they were hidden from the parking lot. Melinda watched as Andrew moved away from the buildings to his car with his back to them. Daisy glanced around the side as they both watched Andrew pull out of the parking lot. Then Melinda started walking toward the building that housed Andrew's office. She typed in a quick text to Natasha. "Let's see what he is hiding."

"You're sure he's hiding something? I mean he could just be busy and still mad at you for whatever happened on your cruise."

Melinda stopped walking. "What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. But you left him. That could not have made him happy."

"Skye." Her voice was frustration and a bit of a warning.

"Daisy."

Melinda grinned. "Daisy, stop fishing."

"Okay. For now." She smirked at her SO.

"Let's go. Not much time till we need to get the house."

Melinda broke into Andrew's office. She walked in first while Daisy followed behind. Nothing seemed out of place or unusual. In fact, everything looked perfect. Daisy whistled and stood with her arms crossed.

"So he is a neat freak huh?"

"He was always well organized and tidy." Melinda moved to the desk and started opening drawers. Daisy moved to the bookshelf and looked around. The two women searched from top to bottom. They found nothing.

Melinda locked the office and the two headed out to the parking lot. Getting in the SUV, Melinda left the college and drove toward the house. Her old house. Daisy was uncharacteristically quiet. Melinda knew Natasha would be long gone from the house and since she did not call, had found nothing.

"So maybe Andrew just has a girlfriend after all."

Melinda grunted in response and just kept driving. She pulled into the driveway of the house and just sat still. She was not prepared for the flood of memories and emotions. Daisy got out of the vehicle. After a few moments Melinda did as well.

"Nice digs. Flowers and everything."

Melinda glanced at the flowers in front of the house under the bow window of the living room. "Andrew always had the green thumb, not me."

"Yeah so you kill flowers and can't cook." Daisy grinned at her.

"Shut up."

Daisy glanced sideways at Melinda whose lips were twitching upward.

"So no gardening, no cooking. Could you clean? Oh wait, you said Andrew was neat and tidy, and I've seen your room, so..."

"Right now you and Laney live in my room and you both are slobs."

"Yeah but it doesn't freak you out, so I'm guessing that Andrew did the cleaning too."

"Daisy." Melinda's voice held both humor and warning. She walked to the front door with Daisy coming up behind her. She rang the bell.

"So bad with cleaning. Bad with cooking. And bad with growing things. What exactly was your contribution."

Andrew swung open the door and having heard Daisy's comments, he winked at Melinda.

"She was a tiger in bed. I mean you see her athleticism right. Imagine how she could twist and contort that body to..."

"Oh my god. No...no...no.'" Daisy had pushed her fingers into her ears and was swinging her head from side to side. Her face was turning pink.

Melinda laughed loudly. She smirked as she watched Daisy act like a little kid. Andrew joined in laughing with her. His face showed his usual mirth that was missing earlier.

"Your kid is embarrassed Mel."

Melinda high fived him. "Well she did ask." Melinda reached over and poked Daisy in the side, which had Daisy pulling her finger out of her ear to push Melinda away. "Gross."

Melinda grinned. "You are such a child."

Daisy glared at them both as she stomped by Andrew into the house. "So are you gonna show us Jiaying's stuff or what?"

Andrew waited for Melinda to follow Daisy and then shut the door behind him. Melinda pointed to her left and Daisy led them all to the kitchen.

"So I brought all this stuff from my office here at home." He pointed to the dining room table, where he had spread Jiaying's books and other items out. Daisy looked over at the table and sighed. She sat on one of the stools and the counter and plopped her elbows on the counter and her head into her hands. Melinda walked over to the table and picked up a book. Andrew spoke up. "That one is financial. Jiaying kept immaculate records. That ledger shows how much money they received and how it was spent. The one next to it is a notebook filled with requisitions and showing disbursements. There's one that lists property owned by a corporation called 'Light Edge'. Shield knows about those and have investigated everything and shut down most of them."

"What about the inhumans that Jiaying had turned. The ones that were all over the place. Lincoln said there could be as many as 100 out there. Plus all those who were not at Afterlife that know they are inhuman but haven't turned. Was there any kind of list?"

Andrew turned to look at Daisy. He shook his head. "Not here. I haven't seen anything with that information."

Daisy sighed. "I should probably take this stuff back and ask Lincoln to look at it too. I have no idea about any of it. It's not like dear old mom told me any of her secrets."

Melinda watched Daisy closely. She nodded. "Yes let's do that." She gathered all the books as Andrew handed her a backpack to put them in. "Are you sure this is everything then Drew?"

"That's all I have. That's all Mack gave the agents to give me."

Daisy walked over to the table. "What about Jiaying's other stuff Melinda? Her personal items. Lincoln said you took them from him. Did you get rid of it?"

Melinda shook her head. "No I wasn't sure if you ever would want to go through it. I stored it away."

"Oh. At the Playground. Guess it's gone then."

Melinda shook her head. "No Daisy. I asked my mother to keep it at her place. I'll make the call when we get on the road. We can drive there on our way back. It's only a couple hundred miles northwest of here." Melinda gave the bag to Daisy. "Hey do you mind waiting in the truck? I'll only be a few minutes."

Daisy smiled. "Copy that. See you later Andrew." She saluted them and walked out the door, heading down the hallway.

"Thanks Drew. I know we showed up unexpected. Thanks for helping and getting Jiaying's things to us."

"Yeah well anything I can do to help. Especially for you Mel. How was your dad? He recovered?"

"Yes he's much better."

"Good. And Lian is well?"

"Yes. She'll be glad we stopped by. She likes Daisy a lot."

"And Vegas was good to you."

"Always."

"Still haven't figured out why you like that place so much."

"I'm fine Andrew."

"You sure?"

"You know we had a good thing going on the cruise. We laughed, shared, had a great time. Even after we got back home those first few days here. Before you up and left. Just left and said something about needing time to think. So you went to your mom's and then to take care of your father after his accident. Phil has me consulting you know. I could visit the new base. Brush up on my Spanish. Go out to a nice restaurant? "

"Drew."

"Melinda what happened? It's like all of a sudden you figured out you didn't care anymore."

"Drew I'm sorry. I do care. I just...I just... we can't be together. Not like that."

"It's Shield? Daisy?"

Melinda stayed quiet. He wasn't wrong.

"And Coulson."

Melinda shot her eyebrows up and was at a loss for words. It was rarely that anyone caught her off guard but Andrew had managed to.

"Do you love him?"

Melinda sighed. She rubbed her left eye and shook her head. "I'm not having this conversation with you. I need to go, get to my mom's. Goodbye Andrew." She turned to leave but Andrew grabbed her arm.

"That you can't answer me is answer enough."

She shrugged his arm off. "I don't know Andrew. I haven't had a moment to process anything. Right now I need to help my team find Simmons. And help Daisy. And figure out this inhuman outbreak and the Ward and Hydra connection. Those are priorities. I need to go. Again thanks for your help. I'll stay in touch okay?"

"Okay Melinda."

His expression was one should couldn't pinpoint but she needed to go. She turned and made her way out to the SUV. She got in and started the engine. Daisy was staring straight ahead gripping the backpack that was on the floor in front of her. Melinda pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Natasha. She then dialed her mother's number. After a quick conversation with her mother, she pulled out of the driveway and headed to the diner. Natasha was waiting outside and she jumped in the back at the stop sign Melinda pulled up to. Natasha glanced at Melinda and then Daisy and raised her eyebrow at Melinda. Melinda gave a slight shake of her head and started the truck forward heading to the highway.

"We need to make a stop at my mother's. Pick up Jiaying's personal items. we are headed there now."

"Okay. It will good to see Lian. Did you find anything at the office?"

"Nothing. You?"

"Well that's where it gets interesting."

At that Daisy finally came out of her stuper and turned slightly toward Natasha. Melinda sighed.

"Fill me in."

"Well I checked the entire house, and yes I was careful so he will never know. Nothing in the upstairs or downstairs out of place at all."

"Melinda said he's very tidy and neat." Daisy appeared to be glad to focus on something other than the backpack she was still clutching very tightly.

"Yeah that's an understatement. Anyway, nothing out of place. Nothing. i mean it looked like no one even lives there neat."

"That's ridiculous. Of course Drew lives there. He has been for 15 years."

"Okay. I know that. But no dirty laundry. No trash anywhere to put out. No towels hanging in the bathroom. No used razors. It's actually bizarre. Look Mel i do this spy stuff for a living remember. It's odd is all I'm saying."

Melinda was quiet for a few minutes while She digested the information. Then she spoke. "What about the garage?"

"All neat and tidy. Two bicycles. A lawnmower. The usual garden tools. Garbage and recycle cans but absolutely nothing in them. Some sports equipment."

"Garbage pickup was always Saturday."

"It's Friday."

"I know that. I don't know Nat. I mean it could be nothing. Maybe they changed the day. Could have picked up trash today."

"Wouldn't the cans have been outside then when I got here? Before Andrew came home?"

"Okay it's weird. But not criminal."

"No one said that Melinda. But we deal with weird and unusual. This definitely fits the bill for that."

Daisy nodded. "Definitely."

"Hey maybe he doesn't stay there Mel. Maybe it is another women. Maybe he lives there and just doesn't want you to know."

Melinda swallowed hard. "I doubt it. He just asked me for us to try again. Asked to come visit at the new base."

"Stop the truck!"

Melinda grimaced at the shout in her ear. She pulled into a parking lot. After guiding the vehicle to a parking spot she turned around and locked eyes with Natasha.

"You want me to drive you back?"

"Nope. I'll get my own transportation. Tell Lian I said hi. Take care Daisy. I'll be in touch Mel." With that Natasha hopped out of the car and walked away.

"What was that?"

"She's right Daisy. Andrew is hiding something. Whatever it is, even if not concerning us, we need to rule him out."

"Rule him out of what exactly?"

"Not sure. But something is definitely off. I've felt it since first seeing him back at his office. Plus he asked me to tell him where the new base was."

"Yeah so. He wants to see you."

"He knows better than that. He knows not to ask. He knows Shield protocol. He was fishing."

"So you are worried about what exactly? That he's been compromised? Brainwashed?"

"Those are very real possibilities in this line of work Daisy."

"Yeah. So now what?"

"Now we go visit my mom, and Natasha spies on Andrew." With that she pulled out of the parking space and headed back to the highway.

It took almost 4 hours to get to Lian May's house in Pennsylvania. Daisy had fallen asleep and woke while they were driving through the mountains.

"Holy crap. Where are we?" Daisy pushed her face to the glass peering out at the scenery.

"Pennsylvania. Central Pennsylvania to be exact."

"How close are we?"

"Maybe half hour. It doesn't look familiar?"

"Last time I was at your mom's we went by quinjet. All times I was at your mom's."

"All two."

"Yeah well one time was for three weeks so there's that."

"And you had fun."

Daisy raised her eyebrow at Melinda. "Hmmm...fun? That's what your going with?"

Melinda grinned. "Hey you like her and she likes you. I think she likes you more than me. Least you have that going for you."

"Bah. She loves you. She's just high maintenance."

Melinda burst into laughter. "Well you are the only one I ever saw talk back to her and not get the death stare. Or silent treatment."

"That's cause she loves me. I am cute you know."

Melinda's body shook with laughter as tears came to her eyes. She knew her mother adored Daisy. Pretended to be tough around her but let her get away with pretty much anything. And one of the only people Melinda knew, besides herself and Maria, who Lian showed any warmth to. Last time they left, Daisy had engulfed Lian in a hug and Lian had reciprocated. In fact, it was her mother who kept telling her she needed to go back to Shield after breaking up with Andrew after Hawaii. It was Lian who kept telling her that Daisy needed her. And she had been right.

Daisy's phone vibrated just then. She picked it up and listened. Melinda glanced at her. She mouthed 'Fitz' while still listening. She explained what she and Melinda and Natasha were doing. After a couple minutes she dropped the phone to her lap.

"They found Randolph. Their team is back at the base and after checking out the monolith and Fitz' notes, he thinks he knows a place to check out. Coulson's taking a team there to get information. Bobbi told Coulson they needed to check out a warehouse that Price helped them find that has connections to her old job in Kentucky. So she and Hunter are taking a team there too. Fitz said he'd keep me informed and that Coulson would call you once they arrived in England."

"England?"

"Yeah I guess that's the place Randolph is taking them. Can't believe he's an Asgardian."

"Yeah well I hope they find something. Still trying to grasp the fact that Jemma may be an inhuman."

"I know. But that's so cool too. I mean for me. I mean she's my friend and...I bet she's scared. Where do you think she is? Another dimension? Another planet? Maybe she's on Asgard?"

"I hope we find out a way to bring her home. Wherever she is."

Daisy nodded. "Yeah." She watched as Melinda pulled off the road into a barely seen dirt road that zigzagged upwards. The road got more narrow and steep and Daisy wondered if the SUV would even make it. Finally the road widened and they came to a clearing with a driveway leading to the familiar house. Daisy smiled. It really had been peaceful here while she recovered from her injuries she'd received on the Iliad. Melinda pulled up next to the house and parked the truck. daisy watched as the door opened and Lian May stepped onto the porch. Daisy opened the door and got out. She waved.

"Hiya Lian. We made it."

"Well good thing. I was expecting you half hour ago." At that she gave Melinda a stoic look. "Hello Melinda."

"Hi Mom." Melinda glanced at Daisy who was running toward Lian. She took the steps two at a time and almost flew into Lian, engulfing her in a hug. Lian hugged back and smiled.

"Come on. I made dinner."

"Oh dinner. I'm starved."

Lian swatted Daisy's arm. "When aren't you hungry?" Daisy laughed and followed Lian into the house.

Melinda smiled watching them go into the house. She saw Daisy had left the backpack in the truck. She decided to bring it along in with her. She grabbed that and both her and Daisy's other packs.

Melinda deposited the backpacks on the floor in the foyer and took off her shoes. She placed them next to Daisy's and then hung up her coat on the rack. She walked into the kitchen. The aroma was tantalizing. Daisy was pouring water into glasses while Lian was placing food on the table. She sat down and looked at the food. Her mother had made all of Daisy's favorites. She shook her head and glared at her mother.

"You spoil her."

"So?"

Daisy giggled. "Told you I was cute."

Melinda turned her glare onto Daisy which was more like a pout actually. Which made Daisy laugh louder. "Just cause I'm her favorite is no need to be mad Melinda."

Lian sat down and nodded. " Wǒ xǐhuan wǒ de sūnnǚ ".

Melinda nearly dropped her glass she had just picked up. She shot her mother a wide eyed look.

"What? Anyone can see she's yours Mellie. So that makes her mine too."

Melinda opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. She was gobsmacked. Daisy looked from Lian to Melinda with wide eyes. Finally Melinda was able to make sound come from her mouth.

"Mama. Daisy's not...I mean she is...she's ...I'm her...I'm her..." Melinda looked at Daisy whose face was a mix of humor and hope. "She's..."

"What Melinda? You treat her like a daughter, and love her. That makes the writing on the wall plain and simple."

"There is absolutely nothing simple about this."

"Oh pssshhhhhhhhh. She adopted you a long time ago. I'm just verbalizing what she is." Lian looked at Daisy who was still staring back and forth at the other two with humorous eyes. "Here Daisy, eat up. I know you love the rice cakes." She put more on Daisy's plate, and also her own and plopped one in her mouth.

Daisy turned to watch Melinda, whose hand still gripped the glass, and whose mouth was still open. Melinda looked at her. She swallowed and watched as Daisy raised her eyebrow at her mimicking one of Melinda's stoic faces.

"Daisy."

Daisy's eye's twinkled. She had a bit of a sheepish grin on her face. "Hǎo de, māmā".

Melinda's eyebrow shot up. She stared at Daisy with emotion running rampant on her face. She looked at Daisy seriously. "Zhè shì nǐ de gǎnjué rúhé? Zhēn. Shì zěnme nǐ kàn wǒ?"

"I told you before Melinda. You are everything I ever wanted my mother to be. No one else has ever come close."

Lian picked up her empty plate. "Well that is settled. You two are staying the night? Melinda?"

Melinda looked away from Daisy and focused on her mother's face. "Um yes mama. We will stay the night and head back early tomorrow."

"The guest room has clean sheets and there are clean towels in the bathroom."

"Okay. Thanks mama."

Both Daisy and Melinda helped clear off the table. Melinda left Daisy to help Lian with the dishes as she went to the basement to gather Jiayings' things. She put them in the living room, on the table in front of the sofa, than sat down. She called Phil. He picked up on the second ring.

"Hey. We made it to my mom's. Where are you?"

Phil answered her sounding tired. "England. Countryside. Randolph has a few leads on information about the Monolith. I have Fitz, Clint, and Mack with me. Bobbi flew Hunter with a team to check out the warehouse Price told them about."

"Phil I need a ride back to base."

"I'll call Maria. She's still there working with Lincoln and Laney running tests on the Monolith. I'll send her to get you."

"Early Phil."

"I'll tell her to be there at seven sharp. How's you mom?"

"Fine. She's calling Daisy her granddaughter now." Melinda said it quietly.

Phil laughed. "I bet Daisy is eating that up."

"Yeah. Mom made her all her favorite foods."

"Of course she did. She still hate me?"

"She doesn't hate you Phil."

"Yes I'm fairly certain she does. Maybe Daisy can put in a good word for me huh?"

Melinda rolled her eyes. "She is better." She knew he would understand.

"Good. Has she gone through Jiaying's things yet?"

"No. And I'm not going to make her. I can bring them back with the items Andrew gave me and have Lincoln go through everything."

"Okay. So you wanna tell me why Nat is following your ex around?"

"I will. But not now. When we both get back to the base. You find any leads?"

"Randolph seems to think so. It'll take us a few more hours to get there. I'll call in the morning."

"Right. Call Maria now."

"I will. Tell Daisy I said goodnight."

"Goodnight Phil."

"Goodnight Mamabear."

"Shut up." She hung up and smirked at the phone. She could almost still hear him laughing.

She heard someone coming into the room. She watched as Daisy stared at the items on the table. "You okay?"

Daisy nodded. She walked over to the table and almost reached down to touch a box. She pulled back and crossed her arms hugging herself tightly. After a few moments she whispered, " I can't."

Melinda nodded. "Okay. I'll pack this up with the other stuff. Lincoln can look at it when we get back tomorrow." Melinda started putting everything in the box it had been stored in.

Daisy spoke softly. "I'm sorry." She gasped and then Melinda heard a sob. Melinda watched as Daisy's face crumbled and she sank to her knees. Melinda crossed to her and sank down pulling Daisy into her arms.

"It's okay. You are going to be okay. We'll figure this out."

Lian watched as her daughter comforted the young woman she had come to think of as her granddaughter. She smiled and went to make tea for her family.


End file.
